Samaha Leads MSU Tennis At River Forest Invitational

Sophomore Giovanni Samaha won his singles flight and teamed with freshman Gabriel Ruiz to win a consolation doubles draw as the Morehead State men’s tennis team opened the fall schedule this weekend at the River Forest Invitational near Chicago.Morehead State collected 10 victories during the two-day event played on clay courts. Sophomore Nick Mercer tallied a pair of wins in the No. 5 singles consolation draw to claim that prize.Samaha won all three singles matches in the No. 3 draw to claim the individual title. He opened with a 6-2, 7-5 triumph over Yehia El Sallaly of Saint Louis. In the next round, he rallied to oust Northern Illinois’ Fred Cadiux, 1-6, 6-3, 12-10. He won the flight in straight sets over Isaac Lloveras of Illinois-Chicago, 6-2, 6-4.Samaha and Ruiz, who played in his first collegiate tournament, fell in their opening doubles match but responded with two victories in the back draw. They finished with an 8-6 decision over Henrik Claesson and Cedric Dujacquier of Ohio Valley Conference foe Belmont. Ruiz also collected his first singles win, notching a 7-5, 6-3 tally in the back draw against Nichad Balachandran of Saint Louis.Mercer defeated Miguel Flores of Saint Louis, 6-1, 6-0 and then put away UIC’s Carl Hedstrom, 6-4, 6-4, in his final singles action.The Eagles’ top player in the lineup, senior Ji Hoon Heo, fell in straight sets in the opening singles round, but he regrouped for a 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) win against Michael Baiocchi of Valparaiso in the back draw. Senior David Clifford grabbed a singles win as well, edging SLU’s Vic Poledica, 7-6, 7-6, in the consolation rounds.Morehead State is back in action on October 4-6 at the Northern Kentucky Invitational.