KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Two members of the IUPUI men's tennis team came up with big wins on day one of the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championship, hosted by the University of Tennessee on Thursday (Sept. 23). 

Sophomore Emil Jankowski started the day with an emphatic 6-2, 6-2 win over Dayton's Georgi Mavrodiev, setting up a second round matchup with the tournament's top seed, Gabriel Diallo from Kentucky. 

Freshman Kamil Kozerski outlasted Ball State's Thibaut de Negri in a 7-5, 2-6, 6-0, three-set thriller. de Negri defeated Alex Jochim in three sets at the Purdue Fall Invitational in West Lafayette last weekend. With the win, Kozerski moves on to take on No. 5 seeded Joshua Lapadat, also from the University of Kentucky. 

Blessing Benibo fell to Belmont's Arthur Toledo in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4 and Jochim was defeated by East Tennessee State's Hugo Lobo, 6-1, 6-3. Benibo will now take on IU's Luka Vukovic in the consolation bracket while Jochim is slated to take on Butler's Michael Karr. 

In doubles play, the tandem of Jochim and Jankowski knocked off Louisville's team of David Mizrahi and Kyle Tang, 8-5. The victory sets up a second round match with the No. 5 seeded doubles team of Chris Edge and Francisco Rocha from Middle Tennessee State. Benibo and Kozerski came up on the wrong end of an 8-6 decision in doubles play, falling to the pair of Lobo and Frazier Rengifo of ETSU. The loss drops Benibo and Kozerski into the consolation bracket where they'll face the Xavier team of Brett Winters and Campbell Nakayama on Friday.