MIDDLEBURY, VT. – Amherst College men's tennis will send a doubles team to the ITA Cup after the top-seeded pair of Andreas Sillaste and Lukas Frangenberg reached the final of the ITA New England Regional Championships, hosted by Middlebury College Sept. 25-27. The duo won four matches before falling to No. 2 seed Nico Tremblay and Stavros Mastrogamvrakis of Tufts in Sunday's final. Rain moved Sunday's play indoors.

By reaching the final, Sillaste and Frangenberg earned a spot at the ITA Cup in Rome, GA., which brings together the winners and finalists from regional championships across the country.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Semifinal win sends Amherst to Rome. Sillaste and Frangenberg led No. 6 seed Phillippe Kosyagin and Tair Sarmanov of Bates 6-2 and 7-3. Bates then won eight straight points, but the Amherst pair closed out an 8-5 win to clinch their ITA Cup berth.
• Tight final against Tufts. One break decided each set as Tremblay and Mastrogamvrakis won the title, 6-4, 6-4.
• Top seeds roll through the draw. Sillaste and Frangenberg outlasted Brandeis' Oliver Lorenz and Benjamin Kotzen, 8-7 (1), in their opener. They then beat Babson's Sebastian Mendoza and Andre Ziskind, 8-2, and No. 8 seed Simon Catanzaro and Cameron Zia of Bowdoin, 8-3.

RESULTS

Semifinals
Sillaste/Frangenberg [1] def. Phillippe Kosyagin/Tair Sarmanov [6] (Bates), 8-5

Final
Sillaste/Frangenberg [1] lost to Nico Tremblay/Stavros Mastrogamvrakis [2] (Tufts), 4-6, 4-6

UP NEXT
Sillaste and Frangenberg will represent Amherst at the ITA Cup, held October 15-18 at Rome Tennis Center in Rome, GA. The event brings together the champions and finalists from ITA regional championships across the country, giving the Amherst duo a chance to compete for a national title against the top doubles teams from other regions. The rest of the Mammoths return to action in the spring.