NEWARK, NJ—The NJIT men's tennis team opened its 2019 campaign, registering 10 wins on the opening day of the NJIT Winter Invitational hosted by the Highlanders at The Naimoli Family Athletic and Recreational Facility.

"Great first day for the team at our NJIT Winter Invite," head coach Ira Miller commented.  "The competition was very heated with teams like Hofstra, Bucknell, and Wagner.  We were undefeated in doubles and Abdallah (Fouad) and Zac (Castagna) played two of their best matches of the 2018-19 season.  Looking forward to tomorrow."

Highlander senior duo Tomi Antoljak and Zac Castagna combined for a 6-4 victory over Wagner's Anatoliy Lashkul and Dale Sandy at first doubles.

NJIT's senior Lukas Zvikas and junior George Svensson posted a 6-3 victory over Bucknell's Ethan Jacob and Marwan Abaza.

NJIT pair sophomore Abdullah Fouad and junior Aleksa Petrovic recorded a 6-2 win over Hofstra's Ryan Hardin and Julien Wolfe at third doubles.

Fouad recorded a straight set victory at third singles in the first round, 6-4, 7-5 over Hofstra's Shawn Jackson.  The sophomore recorded an identical score victory, 6-3, 6-3 in singles second round topping Wagner's Gonzalez.

Castagna, competing at fourth singles in round one, notched a straight set victory, 6-3, 7-5, over Wagner Hans Ohrner.

In singles round two, NJIT's Zvikas battled out a three-set victory, 2-6, 6-2, 10-2 against Hofstra's Jan Leithner.

At fourth singles, Highlanders Castagna recorded a 6-3, 4-6, 10-8 win over Bucknell's Andrei Vitiuc.

Svensson, at sixth singles, dropped the first frame, 6-4, but bounced back 6-1, 11-9 to pick up the victory against Wagner's Ilya Kneppelhout.

The NJIT Invitational will continue on Sunday at 9am.