Last weekend marked the unofficial start to the Georgetown University tennis season, as the men and women entered individual tournaments at the Georgetown Classic and Maryland Invitational Tournament.

At the Georgetown Classic, the men were thrown straight into the fire playing against regional and national tennis powerhouses, including The George Washington University and the University of Pennsylvania. The first day of the tournament saw six Hoyas advance to the second round of the tournament. Junior-transfer from UNLV, Bryan Miller, rolled off two consecutive straight-set victories and senior captain Will Lowell returned to competition with a win after sitting out most of last season with a back injury. Junior Tim Walsh and senior Muki Tan also started the fall season with straight-sets wins.

The Hoyas did not fare as well in the round of 16 as only Miller and senior Dave Tillem advanced to the quarterfinals and due to an unkind draw, they were forced to play each other. Tillem took the first set of the match without dropping a game, but Miller mounted a comeback forcing the match into a second-set tiebreaker, which Tillem won 7-3. He then went on to win his semifinal match against sophomore Chris Brown of Howard University, marking the return of a Hoya to the finals of the Georgetown Classic for the first time in two years. Unfortunately, playing his fifth singles match in three days, Tillem dropped the final to GWU’s Chris Kushma.

While losing the final may have been disappointing, Tillem did bolster his case for playing at the No. 1 position.

At the Maryland Invitational, the women posted solid results, winning 12 total matches and sending a Hoya to the finals for the second consecutive year. Freshman Nora Montgomery played superb tennis over the weekend, racking up big wins against regional opponents.

The tournament raised Georgetown’s hopes for a very successful season, as the newly recruited freshmen were able to gain valuable experience and add some victories along the way. Freshmen Ally Landers and Samantha Martin successfully partnered in doubles grinding out an 8-6 victory, while Victoria Sekely partnered with junior captain Alex Sebia in a dominating 8-0 victory over James Madison.

The women return to action in two weeks at the ODU tournament in Norfork, Pa. The men are in action this week at Brown University. “