NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Fairfield University men's tennis team matched up against Hartford, Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart, UConn, and Yale at the 2013 Connecticut State Championships this past weekend. The three-day event took place at Yale University.

Sophomore Ofir Solomon had the strongest showing of the day, advancing to the quarterfinals. Solomon defeated UConn's Zac McEntee, 6-2, 6-1, to advance to the round of 32 where he edged Tommy Ratchford of Yale, 6-2, 6-2. In the round of 16, Solomon beat the Bulldogs' Photos Photiades, 6-1, 6-3, before falling in the quarterfinals to Yale's Zach Krumholz, 6-4, 6-3.

After a first round bye, senior Ian Tesmond had a 6-0, 6-3, win over Qunnipiac's Luke Roser in the round of 32, before falling to Yale's Tyler Lu, 6-3-6-5 in the round of 16. Dennis Zlobinsky also advanced to the round of 16, after defeating Juan Molina of Hartford, 6-2, 6-5, in the second round after a first round bye. Zlobinsky met his match in the round of 16 where he was edged by Yale's Martin Svenning, 6-4, 6-2.

Junior Cameron Amyot won his first round matchup against Quinnipiac's Ben Teicher, 6-3, 6-2, before falling to UConn's Jacob Spreyer, 6-2, 6-2, in the round of 32. Also competing in singles play for Fairfield were RJ Mirabile, Bjorn Merinder, Reece Breault, and Peter Colliard, all of whom fell in their first round.

In the singles consolation draw, Amyot and Colliard advanced to the semi-finals. Amyot defeated Sacred Heart's Ryan Wennberg, 6-2, 6-1, and UConn's Andrew Ginzberg, 6-5, 6-3. Colliard posted victories over Quinnipiac's Alain Grullon, Sacred Heart's John Budrawich, 5-6, 6-2, 1-0, and UConn's Josh Palmer, 6-2, 6-4. Also in consolation play, Merinder, Breault, and Mirabile fell in their first round matches.

In doubles play, Amyot/Tesmond was the standout duo for the Stags, advancing to the finals. After a first round bye, the pair defeated UConn's Cohen/HoSang, 8-2, in the round of 16 to advance to the quarterfinals where they defeated Yale's Hagermoser/Faierman, 8-1. In the semifinals, the duo edged the Bulldogs' Svenning/Krumholz, 8-7, to advance to the finals where they fell to Yale's duo Lu/Photiades, 8-5.

After a first round bye, Fairfield pair Solomon/Zlobinsky advanced to the round of 16 where they fell to UConn's Harrell/Carr, 8-4. Duo Breault/Mirabile was edged in the first round by Quinnipiac's Ezaka/Ambrosio, 8-6. The Stags' final doubles team of Colliard/Merinder also fell in their first round matchup, 8-3, to UConn's Ginzberg/McEntee.

In the first round doubles consolation draw, Colliard/Merinder advanced to the finals with victories over Sacred Heart's Bagi/Wennberg, 8-2, and Quinnipiac's Roser/Haraguchi, 8-1. The pair fell to Sacred Heart's Power/Budrawich in the final round, 8-4. In the second round doubles consolation draw, Solomon/Zlobinsky also advanced to the finals with wins over Sacred Heart's Pagan/Dean, 8-4, and Quinnipiac's Sell/Barbero, 8-6. The duo defeated Hartford's Sharwarko/White, 8-4, in the finals to win the second round consolation doubles draw. Fairfield duo Breault/Mirabile was edged, 8-4, by Sacred Hearts's Power/Budrawich in their quarterfinal consolation match.

The Fairfield men's tennis team will return to the courts to open their spring campaign on January 24, 2014 when they host Fordham University at the Walsh Athletic Center Tennis Courts at 8pm.