ORLANDO, Fla. - The ninth-seeded Saint Joseph's Hawks and the tenth-seeded Fordham Rams each clinched victories in exciting fashion on the opening day of the Atlantic 10 Conference Men's Tennis Championship at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.

The Dukes struck first in doubles play, getting a 6-3 victory at No. 2 behind Kaipo Marshall and Jin Dassanayake. The pair of David Georgadze and Tamirlan Teberikov battled to a tiebreak with the Hawks' Alejandro Vedri and Inigo Diaz, eventually earning the clinching point at No. 2 doubles. Court three also appeared to be headed to a tiebreak point, knotted at six-all when play was completed.

The Hawks got out to a fast start in singles play, notching first-set victories on courts three, four and five. The Dukes countered on the remaining courts with opening-set victories.

Saint Joseph's evened the match score behind Diaz' 6-1, 6-3 victory at No. 3 singles, before Georgadze completed his straight-set victory against Justus Agbo, 6-4, 6-0 to give DUQ a slight 2-1 edge. SJU's Nassim Fenjiro and Oscar Serra followed next with a pair of victories to put the Hawks back on top, 3-2, when Keita Duclos of Duquesne evened things again at No. 6 singles.

In the deciding match Vedri battled back from an opening-set loss to force the third set with a 6-2 victory. Down 3-2, Vedri broke serve to battle all the way back to a 6-4 win at No. 1 singles and the match's clinching point.

With the win, the Hawks advance to take on No. 1 VCU in Thursday's A-10 quarterfinal match at 4:30 pm.

MATCH #1
#9 SAINT JOSEPH’S def. #8 DUQUESNE, 4-3 
SINGLES

1. Alejandro Vedri (SJU) def. Kaipo Marshall (DUQ) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
2. David Georgadze (DUQ) def. Justus Agbo (SJU) 6-4, 6-0
3. Inigo Diaz (SJU) def. Tamirlan Teberikov (DUQ) 6-1, 6-3
4. Nassim Fenjiro (SJU) def. Jin Dassanayake (DUQ) 6-2, 6-2
5. Oscar Serra (SJU) def. Valentine Vasquez (DUQ) 6-2, 6-3
6. Keita Duclos (DUQ) def. Eli Gan-Dy (SJU) 6-3, 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 4, 5, 6, 1

DOUBLES
1. David Georgadze/Tamirlan Teberikov (DUQ) def. Alejandro Vedri/Inigo Diaz (SJU) 7-6(3)
2. Kaipo Marshall/Jin Dassanayake (DUQ) def. Oscar Serra/John Butler (SJU) 6-3
3. Bode Vance/Liam Wickwire (DUQ) vs. Nassim Fenjiro/Justus Agbo (SJU) 6-6, DNF
Order of Finish: 2, 1

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ORLANDO, Fla. - The Rams rattled off four straight victories in singles play to earn a spot in the Atlantic 10 Men's Tennis quarterfinals, outlasting the Bonnies, 4-2 on Wednesday evening.

After dropping a 6-2 doubles loss on court three, the Bonnies picked up the opening point of the match at courts one and two. The team of Connor Turner and Anargha Ganguly defeated Gio Soemarno and Toi Kobayashi in the tiebreak, 7-6 at No. 2 doubles, before Archie Graham and Rasmus Egehus finished off Fordham's Quinn Fender and Nicholas Kanazirev, 7-5 at the top spot.

Egehus then made quick work in singles action, defeating Kanazirev 6-1, 6-0 on court two, giving the Bonnies a 2-0 lead in the match.

Fordham's Dhilon Virdee-Oakley answered back with a 6-4, 6-3 victory of his own at No. 3 singles, before Quinn Fender tied the match at two-all with his 6-4, 6-1 victory from the top flight. 

Kobayashi put the Rams in front 3-2 as he defeated Turner on court four, 6-4, 7-5 to set the stage for the final two matches. Fordham's John Mascone and Ganguly of SBU split sets in a back and forth battle at No. 5 singles.

After earning a hard-fought tiebreak in the opening set, Sampras Rakotondrainibe, quickly defeated Luke Young on court six, 6-2, in the second set to clinch the match for the Rams, 4-2.

The Rams will take on the second-seeded Richmond Spiders in Thursday's 7:00 pm quarterfinal.?

MATCH #2
#10 FORDHAM def. #7 ST. BONAVENTURE, 4-2
SINGLES
1. Quinn Fender (FOR) def. Archie Graham (SBU) 6-4, 6-1
2. Rasmus Egehus (SBU) def. Nicholas Kanazirev (FOR) 6-1, 6-0
3. Dhillon Virdee-Oakley (FOR) def. Hugo Cochlin (SBU) 6-4, 6-3
4. Toi Kobayashi (FOR) def. Connor Turner (SBU) 6-4, 7-5
5. John Mascone (FOR) vs. Anargha Ganguly (SBU) 6-4, 4-6, 2-2, DNF
6. Sampras Rakotondrainibe (FOR) def. Luke Young (SBU) 7-6(5), 6-2
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1, 4, 6

DOUBLES
1. Archie Graham/Rasmus Egehus (SBU) def. Quinn Fender/Nicholas Kanazirev (FOR) 7-5
2. Connor Turner/Anargha Ganguly (SBU) def. Gio Soemarno/Toi Kobayashi (FOR) 7-6(4)
3. Dhillon Virdee-Oakley/Sampras Rakotondrainibe (FOR) def. Hugo Cochlin/Norka Sanchez (SBU) 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2