ABILENE, TX (09.30.18) - The UT Dallas men's tennis team returned to action over the weekend for the ITA Southwest Regional Tournament, hosted by McMurry University.

Three Comets advanced out of the opening rounds of the 64-player "A" Draw with Mario Jelev and Ashwin Vaithianathan both making a run to the round of 16 before dropping a close matches to Southwestern players. Giovanni Zamboni won his opening match, but fell in the round of 32.

After falling the opening round, three Comets moved on to the consolation bracket, of which two UTD men picked up singles victories. Haydn Steffes earned four consolation wins before stepping out of the semifinals due to injury. Eric Chen won two consolation matches before falling in the quarterfinals.

In doubles play, the two duos picked up opening round wins in the "A" draw. The tandem of Jed De Luna and Mario Jelev picked up a win over Hardin-Simmons' Griffin Weinkam/Holt Fields, 9-7, while Vaithianathan and Zamboni earned a 8-6 win over Schreiner's Jacob Canales/Robert Riggs.

Full UTD results below.

SINGLES

Eric Chen
Round of 64: lost to Luis Cabrejas (Schreiner), 6-2, 0-6, 10-5
Consolation Round of 32: def. Jared Mason (Texas Lutheran), 7-5, 6-1
Consolation Round of 16: def. Jorge Garcia (Concordia Texas), 3-6, 6-2, 10-5
Consolation Quarterfinals: lost to Alonso Fernandez (Southwestern), 6-7 (6), 6-1, 10-6

Jed De Luna
Round of 64: lost to Brett O'Brien (Austin College), 4-6, 7-6 (3), 10-4
Consolation Round of 32: lost to Bobby Clark (LeTourneau), 7-5, 6-0

Mario Jelev
Round of 64: def. Siddharth Kortikere (Austin College), 2-6, 6-4, 10-1
Round of 32: Cameron Krimbill (Trinity), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3)
Round of 16: lost to Dean Dulthummon (Southwestern), 6-4, 6-2

Haydn Steffes
Round of 64: lost to Esteban Arredondo (Concordia Texas), 6-1, 6-4
Consolation Round of 32: def. Gabe Benetiz (Howard Payne), 6-3, 6-1
Consolation Round of 16: def. Preston Spivey (Austin College), 6-3, 6-2
Consolation Quarterfinals: def. Carlos Subealdea (Texas Lutheran), 7-6 (6), 6-3
Consolation Semifinals: lost to Nathaniel Schoendorf (Hardin-Simmons), default

Ashwin Vaithianathan
Round of 64: def. Jorge Garcia (Concordia Texas), 6-1, 6-2
Round of 32: def. Josh Newman (Schreiner), 6-3, 6-1
Round of 16: lost to Alexis Dimanche (Southwestern), 6-4, 6-4

Giovanni Zamboni
Round of 64: def. Tyler Howard (East Texas Baptist), 6-0, 6-1
Round of 32: lost to Christian Settles (Trinity), 6-3, 0-6, 10-5

DOUBLES

Eric Chen / Haydn Steffes
Round of 32: lost to Andres Padilla/Calum Robe (Austin College), 8-3

Jed De Luna / Mario Jelev
Round of 32: def. Griffin Weinkam/Holt Fields (Hardin-Simmons), 9-7
Round of 16: lost to Artur Zigman/Cameron Kimbrill (Trinity), 8-2

Ashwin Vaithianathan / Giovanni Zamboni
Round of 32: def. Jacob Canales/Robert Riggs (Schreiner), 8-6
Round of 16: lost to Christian Settles/Larks Wiik (Trinity), 9-7