GLEN DALE, W.Va. – Daisuke Aota won the B Flight Singles championship on Saturday, highlighting a solid weekend performance for the West Liberty University men's tennis team in its season-opening Topper Classic.
    Coach Ronnie Hulewicz's Hilltoppers hosted the event at the John Marshall High School Tennis Complex and couldn't have asked for better playing conditions.
    Aota, a returning sophomore from Osaka, Japan, started his run through the B Flight with a straight set win against Edinboro's Chia Chun Chiang and followed that up with another straight set win in the semifinals, eliminating Edinboro's Rocco Palombarini by scores of 6-1 and 7-5.
    The championship match pitted Aota against Fairmont State's Jacob Boone. Aota breezed to a 6-3 win in the opening set only to see Boone bounce back with a 6-3 nod in the second set. The Hilltopper sophomore regained his footing to close out the win with a 10-5 decision in the tiebreaker.
    Also picking up victories for the hosts over the weekend were Nevio Dux, who defeated West Virginia State's Ryan Mullins, 6-1 6-1, in an A Flight consolation match, and Isfandiyor Makhumudov, who rallied past Hubert Parawa of Edinboro, 4-6 6-3 (10-5), in an A Flight quarterfinal but had to retire from his semifinal match due to injury.
    Zarion Jones swept West Virginia State's Alex Anderson, 6-1 6-0, in a B Flight consolation match after dropping a tough quarterfinal to Edinboro's Jorge Benette, 6-3 4-6 (10-8).
    Another busy weekend is on tap for the WLU men as they head to Bloomsburg, Pa. on Friday for the start of the ITA Atlantic Region Fall Championships.
  Seena Saadevandi (FSU) d. Nevio Dux (WLU) 6-2, 5-7, (13-11)
Nevio Dux (WLU) d. Ryan Mullins (WVSU) 6-1, 6-1
Ruben Acuna (Edin) d. Anton Schulz (WLU) 6-4 7-6 (8)
Kaio Sacchi (Edin) d. Anton Schulz (WLU) 6-3 4-6 (10-6)
Isfandiyor Makhumudov (WLU) d. Hubert Parawa (Edin) 4-6 6-3 (10-5)
Kan Watanabe (FSU) d. Isfandiyor Makhumudov (WLU) 4-1, ret. Daisuke Aota (WLU) d. Chia Chun Chiang (Edin) 6-3, 6-2
Daisuke Aota (WLU) d. Rocco Palombarini (Edin) 6-1, 7-5
Daisuke Aota (WLU) d. Jacob Boone (FSU) 6-3, 3-6 (10-5)
Jacob Boone (FSU) d. Derek Roehner (WLU) 4-6, 6-4, (10-3)
Jorge Benette (Edin) d. Zarion Jones (WLU) 6-3, 4-6 (10-8)
Zarion Jones (WLU) d. Alex Anderson (WVSU) 6-1, 6-0 Takahiro Inoue/Thibault Dorval (Edin) d. Roehner/Schulz (WLU), 6-3
Maks Braziewicz/Gustavo Martins (Edin) d. Makhmudov/Aota (WLU), 6-3
Paulo Gutierrez/Mateo Flores (WVSU) d. Jones/Dux (WLU), 7-6 (2)