LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Dayton men's tennis team won four individual matches in the first day of the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships on Thursday. Seniors Connor Bruce and Matt DeMarco each won both matches on the day for the Flyers.
 
The competition opened with the Round of 64 in doubles play. Bruce and DeMarco won their opening match against Kentucky's Jonathan Sorbo and Heman Nama 8-5 to advance to the Round of 32 on Friday. The pair will take on another SEC opponent in Vanderbilt's Joubert Klopper and Macsen Sisam. Klopper led the team in singles victories as a junior last season and also picked up 16 doubles wins. Sisam enters his fifth year after going 8-3 in doubles play during his senior season and a 4-2 mark during conference play. That match is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. at Bellarmine.
 
The Flyers also went 3-1 in singles play on the day. Junior Ronit Hiryur got Dayton on the board in the Round of 128 with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win over Simon Labbe of Chattanooga. Hiryur will take on Tennessee Tech's Mika Berghaus. Berghaus is a freshman who advanced after winning in straight sets over Lipscomb's Carlos Salas Tulla.
 
Bruce also won his first round match, taking down Taj Hibbert of Tennessee State in straight sets 6-2, 6-1. The senior will take on Pavel Motl of Middle Tennessee State Friday at 1 p.m. at Louisville. Motl beat Sota Minami of Austin Peay 6-2, 6-3 in the first round. Motl won 14 matches a season ago, going 11-2 in No. 6 singles. He also was on the All-CUSA First Team for doubles as a senior.
 
DeMarco closed out the afternoon with a win over Danilo Kovacevic 7-5, 7-5. It marks the second time DeMarco has won that matchup this season against the Ball State graduate student. The senior will take on Middle Tennessee State's Oskar Brostrom Poulsen. Poulsen won 25 singles matches as a freshman and made the All-C-USA Doubles First Team and the NCAA Doubles Championship last season. Poulsen won his first match against Tom Bolton of Austin Peay and the two will face off on Friday at 2:15 p.m.
 
Junior Erik Eliasson will take on Chattanooga's Kristof Kincses Friday at 10:30 a.m. at Bellarmine after falling to Pau Fanlo of Memphis 6-1, 6-3.