Men's Tennis | 7/25/2015 10:34:00 AM

Complete Results

PISCATAWAY, NJ—NJIT men's tennis players Markus Schultz and Andres Alban made an impressive mark at the recent 2015 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Summer Circuit East Regional tournament hosted by Rutgers. Schultz captured the singles title, while Alban reached the quarterfinals. The duo also teamed to sweep the doubles draw.

The tournament, which was played at both RU Tennis Courts in Piscataway, NJ and at Buccleuch Park in New Brunswick, NJ, started on July 17 and continued throughout the weekend, with the back draw taking place on Sunday, July 19.  The final of the open tournament was played on Monday July 20. 

"A great achievement for Markus, Andres, and NJIT to sweep the singles and doubles at the ITA Summer Circuit East Regional tournament," head coach Ira Miller commented on the pair's performance. " Markus continues to make his mark as a national-level player and NJIT doubles remains a force to be reckoned with. Congratulations to both of them!"

Schultz, the #1 seed in the tournament, defeated Reid Burch (Loyola, MD) in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2 in his first singles contests of the circuit.  He went on to top Tyler Blessing (Loyola, MD) 6-0, 6-2; won by identical scores, 6-2, 6-2 against #16 seeded Justin Kang (Johns Hopkins) and defeated #9 seed John Wu (Washington U., St. Louis) 6-1, 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals.  In the quarterfinals, Schultz met teammate Alban and won by identical scores, 6-2, 6-2. Advancing to the finals, he topped #10 seeded Kyle Wolfe (Bowdoin), 6-3, 6-0.

Alban, the #5 seed in the tournament, put together a strong performance in his first matched topping Lance Francisco (Florida Southern), 6-0, 6-1.  Alban won the next three matches before falling to Schultz in the quarterfinals.  Alban won in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 against Austin Blake (Mount St. Mary's, MD), defeated Christian O'Connor (2015 high school graduate) by identical scores, 6-4, 6-4 and went the distance against Cole Sutton (2015 high school graduate), dropping the first frame, 2-6 before bouncing back with a 6-1, 10-5 victory.

In the men's doubles competition, the pair received a bye in the first round and topped Brode and Reinharz in their first doubles contest, 8-1.  The pair defeated Wright and Born 8-5 and followed up with an 8-3 victory against Sandler and Bennett in the quarterfinals advancing to the finals.  The Highlander duo captured the title topping McNulty and Carcione.

About the ITA Summer Circuit
Since its inception in 1993, nearly 30,000 men and women have competed in the ITA Summer Circuit, presented by the USTA. Providing college and junior athletes (along with alumni) the opportunity to compete in organized events year round, the Circuit remains open to anyone as long as he/she is a current ITA member. There are nine regional circuits that span across the United States, which include 36 different tournaments.