HANOVER, N.H. – Freshman Marc Powers (Stamford, Conn.) advanced to the finals of the Wilson/ITA Regionals Tuesday morning at Dartmouth before dropping a three-setter to the No. 4 seed.  Powers won his fifth straight match against a seeded opponent in the semifinals by defeating No. 17 seed Haig Schneiderman of Columbia 4-6, 6-1, 6-1.  In the finals, Powers lost to No. 4 seed Sven Vloedgraven of Binghamton 4-6, 6-0, 6-2.  

The unseeded Powers went 6-1 in singles play in the Wilson/ITA Regionals.  Powers followed up his 6-4, 6-1 victory over Drexel's Mehdi Rhazali in the round of 128, with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win over No. 17 seed Phil Law in the round of 64.  In the round of 32, Powers cruised to a 6-4, 6-0 victory over No. 13 seed Alistair Felton of Harvard.  Powers followed up this straight set victory with another as he defeated Boston College's Thomas Nolan 7-6 (3), 6-0 in the round of 16.  Powers then pulled off his most impressive victory of the tournament as he defeated No. 3 seed Mihai Nichifor of Columbia 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 in the quarterfinals.  

Alex Dorato, the Cary Leeds Head Coach of Men's Tennis, said that Powers' play in the tournament was even more impressive considering he is a freshman.  

"Reaching the Regional final was the best result from a freshman that I have ever had," Dorato said.  "His performance bodes very well for the future of Yale tennis as his success will attract other great players to play for Yale."

Despite being unseeded, the freshman advanced further than any other Ivy League player in the tournament.  

Powers also excelled in doubles play on the weekend.  Powers and doubles partner senior captain Connor Dawson advanced all the way to the semifinals of the doubles draw.  The duo defeated both the No. 5 and No. 4 seeds en route to the semifinals before losing to the eventual tournament champions.  

Yale will be off this weekend before hosting the Connecticut State Championships at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center the weekend of Oct. 31.  Yale will then play host to the Wilson/ITA Nationals, one of the three most prestigious individual events in all of collegiate tennis.  From Nov. 5 to Nov. 8, the 32 best men's and women's singles players and 16 best men's and women's doubles players will compete at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center.  As host of the event, Yale will receive two automatic singles bids and one automatic doubles bid.  

For complete results from this past weekend's ITA Regional Championships, click here.  

Report Filed by Steven Horn '10, Yale Sports Publicity