Agusti and Schmitt Reach Doubles Quarterfinals at ITA Atlantic Regionals

Thursday, October 10

Norfolk, Va.

James Madison University

ITA Atlantic Regional Championship

Agusti and Schmitt Reach Doubles Quarterfinals at ITA Atlantic Regionals

10/13/2024 3:12:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

NORFOLK, Va. – The James Madison tandem of Esteve Agusti and Aurelien Schmitt advanced to the doubles quarterfinals to highlight the men's tennis program's play at the ITA Atlantic Regional Championship (Oct. 10-13), hosted at Old Dominion's Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center.

Agusti and Schmitt went 3-1 in doubles play, which included an upset victory in the round of 16 over the seventh-seeded duo of Chase Robinson and Carl Roothman of Liberty. Their run eventually ended at the hands of Virginia's Mans Dahlberg and Dylan Dietrich out of Virginia, as the JMU two were the only unranked squad to reach the final eight.

JMU produced a total of 18 victories at the regional event, winning 11 singles matches and seven doubles bouts.

In singles, the Dukes went 9-5 in the qualifying bracket, as Edson Sanchez, Markus Giersiepen and Schmitt each went 2-0 to advance to the main draw with Agusti, who earned an automatic bid to the final 64.

In the main draw, Agusti reached the round of 32 with a first-round triumph in three sets against Liberty's Rodrigo Arraez (7-5, 0-6, 6-2).

On the doubles side, all four tandems moved past the opening round. In addition to Agusti and Schmitt, the team of Giersiepen and Sanchez reached the round of 16 where they ultimately fell to the top-seeded squad from host Old Dominion, Codie and Connor Van Schalkwyk, who rank eighth nationally in doubles.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Singles Qualifying

JMU went 6-1 in opening-round matches Thursday in the qualifying stage, while Sanchez, Giersiepen and Schmitt each went 2-0 to advance to the main draw and round of 64.
Sanchez first defeated Norfolk State's Daniz Okyay (6-4, 6-4) before upending Richmond's Paxton Pritchard (6-3, 6-3), who was qualifying's top seed, in the second round.
Giersiepen downed Radford's Philippe Bigonesse (6-4, 6-2) and later defeated Richmond's Cole Brashear (2-6, 6-2, 6-3) in comeback fashion.
Schmitt's collegiate debut at regionals saw him produce wins against Loyola's Harris Zeiders (6-3, 6-1) and William & Mary's Sean Joseph (6-1, 6-4).

Singles Main Draw

Agusti moved to the round of 32 with an opening-round win against Liberty's Arraez, while Sanchez, Schmitt and Giersiepen all suffered round-of-64 setbacks.
Schmitt was up a set on Liberty's Siwanat Auytayakul before falling in three sets (4-6, 7-5, 6-0). Sanchez forced a third set with Virginia Tech's Patrik Jurina before dropping a close match (6-2, 3-6, 6-4).
In the round of 32, Agusti fell short of VCU's German Samofalov (6-2, 6-2).

Doubles Main Draw

In the opening round, Giersiepen and Sanchez won by default/injury against Virginia's RJ Fresen and Stefan Regalia, while Harrison Lee and Dennis Wiebe rolled past Alexi Roy and Filippos Zachiots of Mount St. Mary (8-3).
Zach Fleishman and Francisco Sinopoli won in a tiebreak against Navy's Tommy Kim and Jake Young (8-7 (3)), while Agusti and Schmitt downed William & Mary's Oliver Hague and Gur Traktenberg (8-2).
Giersiepen and Sanchez earned a narrow 7-4 win in the tiebreak to beat Virginia Tech's Jurina and Damian Sancilio (8-7 (4)), and Agusti and Schmitt continued their strong weekend by dispatching Morgan State's Mikeal Carpenter and Niles Rachal (8-4).
In the round of 16, Agusti and Schmitt took down the seventh-seeded squad of Liberty (8-3), while Giersiepen and Sanchez's run came to an end at the hands of ODU's top team.
In the quarterfinals, second-seeded UVA went up 5-0 early en route to an 8-2 victory against JMU's Agusti and Schmitt.