Thomsen, van Gils Lead GW Men's Tennis on Fourth Day of ITA All-American Championships

Colonials' No. 2 Doubles Team Posts Pair of Victories Tuesday

Senior Ugur Atalay and freshman Francisco Dias teamed up in doubles action at the ITA/D'Novo All-American Men's Tennis Championships this week.

Oct. 4, 2011

Tournament Central

TULSA, Okla. – Sophomore Ulrik Thomsen and junior Alexander van Gils went 2-0 in doubles action Tuesday to lead the George Washington men’s tennis team on day four of the ITA/D’Novo All-American Championships at University of Tulsa.

GW's No. 2 doubles team of Thomsen and van Gils overpowered Stanford’s Matt Kandath and Denis Lin by a score of 8-4. Lin is ranked No. 64 in the 2011-12 ITA preseason-rankings.

The pair then defeated Georgia Tech's Juan Melian-Puigventos and Dusan Milijevic in an 8-6 decision. The combination of Thomsen's forehand and van Gils' quickness proved too much for the Yellowjackets' duo.

"This match was the highlight of the day," said Head Coach Greg Munoz. "To go head-to-head with a top-10 school with such high energy and defeat its No. 2 doubles team is a moment we will never forget."

In singles play, freshman Francisco Dias dropped a difficult match to Georgia's Hernus Pieters, who is ranked No. 107 in Division I by ITA. Dias fell behind early and dropped the first set, 6-1, but battled Pieters to the wire in the second set before falling 7-6 (5) in a tiebreaker.

"Francisco played his heart out today and fell to very challenging opponents," said Coach Munoz. "It's difficult to shake the lead out of your feet as a freshman, but we are all very proud of his accomplishments."

Dias faced his second ranked opponent of the day when he and senior Ugur Atalay teamed up against Auburn’s Daniel Cochrane and Dennis Lengsfeld. Lengsfeld is the 54th-ranked singles player in the ITA preseason rankings. Dias and Atalay fell behind 5-0 to start the match, but fought back to knot the score at 6-6 and eventually 8-8. The Colonials' pair held a 7-6 advantage in the tiebreak, but ultimately fell to the Tigers' No. 2 doubles team 10-8 in the set and 9-8 in the match.

"I am very proud of everyone today," said Coach Munoz. "They competed hard, learned some valuable lessons and gave a lot of recognition to the GW men's tennis team."

The Colonials return to the court Wednesday for the fifth straight day of competition at the event. Fans can follow live stats and video via the Tournament Central Page.

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