MIDLAND, TX- University of San Diego senior
Dean Jackson took home the men's singles title in the Racquet Club Collegiate Invitational in Midland, TX Sunday by defeating Maros Horny of Maryland, 6-4, 7-6.
Jackson, the No. 1 seed, worked his way into the finals by defeating Harry Fowler of Rice, 6-3, 4-6, and 10-8 in the round of 32, then earning a win over Ben Dunbar of New Mexico, 7-6, 6-4, taking down Baylor's Sergio Ramirez, 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals, and beating Daniel Whitehead of Texas, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinal before meeting Horny.
Other Toreros that competed in the tournament were juniors Nikola Bubnic and Patrick Pohlmann, and sophomore Thibaut Visy. Bubnic and Pohlmann each fell in their main draw opening matches; No. 2 seed Bubnic lost to New Mexico's Carl Ho, 7-6, 7-6, and Pohlmann, the No. 3 seed, fell to Jadon Philips, also of New Mexico, 6-3, 6-4.
Bubnic came back to win the back draw by winning four matches, including a 7-6, 6-2 defeat of Joe Hattrup from Southern Methodist in the consolation final. Pohlmann also competed in the back draw, dropping his opening match to Southern Methodist's Robert Lambeth, 7-6, 7-5.
Visy earned a first round win over Paul Chappell of Texas Christian, 6-4, 6-1, in the main singles draw before coming up short against Whitehead, 4-6, 6-4, 10-5 in the second round. Visy went on to win two more matches, defeating Grant Ive from Tulsa, 6-2, 6-3, and Joe Wood of New Mexico, 6-1, 6-4.
Head coach Brett Masi after the tournament: "We're very proud of our guys and their performance at the tournament. The guys had a goal to come back with hardware and with Nikola winning the backdraw and Dean bringing home the singles title, I would say that was a job well done. Thibaut played strong winning three singles matches as well and unfortunately for Patrick he was really sick, but he will bounce back next tournament. (Assistant coach) Ryan (Keckley) did a great job with them out there and the experience was an overall success. Special thanks to all the people who helped put on a great event at the club and we look forward to being back next year."
The Toreros return to action on Oct. 2 when they travel to Tulsa, Okla. to compete in the D'Novo/ITA All-American Championships.
Racquet Club Collegiate Invitational
Main Draw Singles
Photo Gallery
Thibaut Visy (USD) def. Paul Chappell (TCU)- 6-4, 6-1
Daniel Whitehead (UT) def. Thibaut Visy (USD)- 4-6, 6-4, 10-5
Carl Ho (UNM) def. Nikola Bubnic (USD)- 7-6, 7-6
Jadon Philips (UNM) def. Patrick Pohlmann (USD)- 6-3, 6-4
Dean Jackson (USD) def. Harry Fowler (Rice)- 6-3, 4-6, 10-8
Dean Jackson (USD) def. Ben Dunbar (UNM)- 7-6, 6-4, 6-3
Dean Jackson (USD) def. Sergio Ramirez (BU)- 6-3, 6-2
Dean Jackson (USD) def. Daniel Whitehead (UT)- 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
Dean Jackson (USD) def. Maros Horny (UM)- 6-4, 7-6
Back Draw Singles
Nikola Bubnic (USD) def. Mindaugas Celedinas (UTA)- 6-4, 7-6
Robert Lambeth (SMU) def. Patrick Pohlmann (USD)- 7-6, 7-5
Thibaut Visy (USD) def. Grant Ive (Tulsa)- 6-2, 6-3
Thibaut Visy (USD) def. Joe Wood (UNM)- 6-1, 6-4
Nikola Bubnic (USD) def. Robert Sajovitch (SMU)- 6-2, 4-6, 10-4
Nikola Bubnic (USD) def. Lawrence Formentara (OU)- 2-6, 6-2, 10-5
Nikola Bubnic (USD) def. Joe Hattrup (SMU)- 7-6, 6-2
Doubles
Jackson/Pohlmann (USD) def. Celedinas/Yakauleu (UTA)- 9-8
Ramirez/Verzaal (BU) def. Jackson/Pohlmann (USD)- Default due to illness
Dunbar/Berg (UNM) def. Bubnic/Visy (USD)- 8-6
