ANNAPOLIS, M.D. – This past weekend, the Temple Owls Men’s Tennis Team traveled to Annapolis Maryland to compete in the Joe Hunt Invitational that was hosted by Navy.
The three day event, which began on Friday, highlighted Artem Kapshuk in day one. The freshman out of Kieve, Ukraine, came out strong by winning his two singles B sets in convincing fashion. Kapshuk gutted out a close first set against Morgan State’s Jeremy Field 7-6(6) but in his second set against Field, Kapshuk dominated 6-2. The six-foot-two Kieve native never looked back from there, as he dominated his second match of the day winning 6-2 each set against Aaron Capitel of George Mason.
Three other Owls went undefeated that day as well. Filip Stipcic, Maros Janvuka and Ian Glessing dominated each of their two matches on Friday,giving Temple a total of four individuals with a chance to compete in championship sets on Sunday. They would first however have to pick up wins on Saturday before being awarded championship seeds.
For Saturday’s matches, three of Temple’s four were able to advance to their respective championship flights.
Seniors Ian Glessing and Maros Januvka once again proved dominance in their E singles sets. Glessing soared through Navy’s Parker Hayslett, 6-1 and 6-2, while Janvuka battled out his victory against Navy’s Josh Martin, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2. Kapshuk continued with his winning ways as well, advancing to the B singles championship match by beating out Alex Drean out of UMBC, 6-1, 6-4.
Unfortunately, Stipcic dropped his Saturday set against George Mason’s Guliano Buzoianu, 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4 — resulting in a spot for Sunday’s D singles third place match.
In the championship flights, Glessing and Januvka were pitted against each other for the E singles title. The fellow Owls clawed against each other, but ultimately the match ended in a 6-1, 6-2 result, in favor of Ian Glessing.
Though just a freshman, Artem Kapshuk looked like a veteran throughout the entire event. Kapshuk earned the title of B singles champion by beating out his final opponent, Georgia Tech’s Michael Chen, 6-3, 6-4.
With three Owls having competed in championship sets that resulted in two Temple titles — along with the season opening sweeps of La Salle and Rider — the team is looking very strong at the season’s start.
The men will look to carry their winning momentum to Tulsa, Oklahoma as the Owls will fly to the ITA All-American tournmaent on October 3rd.
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