LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The No. 73 Bulldogs opened their season with a 4-3 victory over No. 70 Radford Saturday at the ITA Division I Men's Kick-off Weekend hosted by USC.  Yale won four of six singles matches to earn the victory.  The Bulldogs will face the nation's top team Sunday when they take on host USC.  

At No. 1 singles, freshman Marc Powers defeated nationally ranked Ivan Salec.  Powers defeated the No. 66 player in the nation in straight sets 6-2, 7-6.  

Junior Calvin Bennett had an amazing comeback at No. 3 singles.  After dropping the first set 7-6, Bennett found himself down 5-1 in the second set.  Bennett battled back and won 11 straight games to win the match 6-7, 7-5, 6-0.  

Sophomore Erik Blumenkranz cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 6 singles.  Freshman Daniel Hoffman won the clincher for Yale.  Down 4-1 in the final set, Hoffman won 5 straight games to win his match at No. 5 singles 7-6, 3-6, 6-4.  

The Bulldogs will play No. 1 USC Sunday.  

Complete Results

Singles
1.  Marc Powers (Y) def. No. 66 Ivan Salec (R), 6-2, 7-6
2.  Thomas Dehaen (R) def. John Huang (Y), 6-4, 6-3
3.  Calvin Bennett (Y) def. Igor Ogrizek (R), 6-7, 7-5, 6-0
4.  Zack Watson (R) def. Joel Samaha (Y), 6-1, 6-2
5.  Daniel Hoffman (Y) def. Erik Finkenbrink (R), 7-6, 3-6, 6-4*
6.  Erik Blumenkranz (Y) def. Michael Johnson (R), 6-3, 6-2
Order of Finish: 4, 6, 2, 1, 3, 5*

Doubles
1.  Blumenkranz / Samaha (Y) def. Salec / Watson (R), 8-7 susp.
2.  Ogrizek / Dehaen (R) def. Huang / Powers (Y), 8-6
3.  Finkenbrink / Johnson (R) def. Bennett / Hoffman (Y), 8-6

Report Filed by Steven Horn '10, Yale Sports Publicity