MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Auburn Montgomery Men's Tennis team kicked off the fall season this past weekend in the ITA South Regional, with junior Matias Destefanis and freshman Eban Straker-Meads leading the way for the Warhawks in a field that featured six teams that ended 2016 ranked in the top-10.
 
SINGLES BRACKET
• Entering the tournament as the 10 seed, Destefanis advanced to the Round of 16 via victories over Florian Clemares from Lynn and AUM teammate sophomore Alvaro Terron before losing to Guillermo Nicolas from Rollins 6-3, 6-3.
• Straker-Meads also reached the Round of 16, starting with a 6-1, 7-6(4) victory over Nick Springer from defending national champion West Florida in a play-in match before upsetting ninth-seed Nicolo De Fraia of Rollins 7-5, 6-1. The Nottingham, England product added a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Fernando Tous from Barry before ending play with a three-set loss to seventh-seed Serdar Bojadjiev of West Florida 6-4, 4-6, 10-8.
• Terron, who fell to Destefanis in the Round of 32, won his initial match 7-6(4), 6-2 over Rollins' Daniel Fert.
• Junior Santiago Veglia reached the Round of 32 behind a 6-4, 6-3 win over St. Leo's Francisco Aparicio in the play-in round and a 7-6(2), 7-6(4) triumph over Honorio Fernandez from West Alabama before falling 6-2, 6-2 to sixth-seed Jodri Mas from Valdosta State.
• Despite exiting the main draw in the opening round, freshman Giovanni Bellio made a run in the consolation bracket with five victories to reach the finals.
 
DOUBLES BRACKET
• With each excelling in singles action, Destefanis and Straker-Meads carried their successes over into doubles play. The tandem started off with an 8-3 victory over Robin Rafaitin and Lucas Sanchez from West Florida and followed it up with an 9-8(4) upset over fifth-seed Nicolo De Fraia and Guilermo Nicolas of Rollins. Another upset, this one a 9-7 triumph over third-seed Juan Couder and Deepak Vishavkarma, propelled the duo to the semifinals, where their run ended with an 8-5 setback to second-seeded Florian Clemares and Jose Porfirio of Lynn.
• The pairing of Bellio and Vegila went 0-2, falling to eventual champions Rodolfo Arreygue and Andres Donavre of Embry Riddle 8-3 before dropping a back-and-fourth 9-8 (15-13) match against Victor Ahlbeck and Miguel Alvarez-Hevia of Florida Southern.
 
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