It was an event without team scoring, but the Wheaton Invitational at Wheaton College saw a select few Cardinal tennis players represent the team well as they returned to Middletown with three titles and a second place finish.

The Invitational is not a team-scoring event and instead focuses on individuals competing for titles in various brackets. Early in the season, these types of events help players develop their confidence and mechanics prior to the team competition schedule.

“The Wheaton invitational was a great way for our team to start the season,” said senior tri-captain Mike Frank ’08.

“The set up of the tournament allows everyone who participated in the tournament to play multiple matches and polish their games without the pressure of having each individual result be a part of a cumulative team score,” Frank said.

The four teams invited – Holy Cross, Colby-Sawyer, Wheaton, and Wesleyan – entered four brackets, two singles and two doubles. Each bracket consisted of a round-robin competition to decide the flight champion. With the pressure of team competition off of their shoulders, the Cards soared, nearly capturing the championship in all four brackets of competition by smothering their competitors with aggressive play.

Tri-captain Pauri Pandian ’08 drew the toughest opponents in the first singles bracket. In his first match Pandian cruised 6-4, 6-2 over an inferior foe from Wheaton, before losing a heartbreaking match in the finals 5-7, 5-7. But he left the tournament with a solid second place finish.

At second singles, Frank scorched an opponent from Colby-Sawyer 6-2, 6-0. Though fatigue set in towards the end of his finals match, Frank pulled out an impressive 6-1, 7-6 victory over Holy Cross’s second singles player and took first place in his bracket.

“The second set of my match in the finals was a real grind,” Frank said. “Getting through a match like that victoriously is definitely important, especially so early in the season.”

In doubles competition, first doubles entrants Matt O’Connell ’09 and Jaafar Rizvi ’09 emerged with an 8-5 victory over a Wheaton team in a their first pro-set and continued their success into the finals, earning a 9-7 victory over Colby-Sawyer.

Second doubles produced one of the team’s most dominating performances of the day as Alejandro Alvarado ’09 and senior tri-captain Max Schenkein ’08 combined to turn in a game total of 16-5 in two pro-sets earning them the title in the second doubles bracket.

While success early can be a great indication of a strong season, it is important for the team to remember that early success is only a stepping-stone to greater victories as competition intensifies. Frank noted that there is still work to be done before the Cards will consider themselves at the top of their game.

“Our team still has a lot of work to do, but the positive results we achieved in the tournament we hope to replicate throughout the season,” Frank said.