DES MOINES, Iowa -- The University of North Dakota men's tennis team opened its non-championship portion of the season in Des Moines, Iowa for the Drake Invite over the weekend. 

"This weekend's event at Drake provided a great opportunity for our players to compete against some of the best competition in our conference and region," said UND head coach Tom Boysen. "As coaches, the feedback we get from these fall tournaments is vital to our developmental plans for each player as we head into our spring season. I didn't think we handled numerous situations on the court well at all on Saturday, and it cost us. To our players' credit, they came out today ready to compete and ready to deal with adversity in a proactive manner. I'm very proud of the growth I saw in a 24-hour period."

UND posted a winning record in doubles play, including a 6-3 mark in two-man action, to finish the three-day event with a 15-12 overall record. Each player competing for the green and white won at least one singles and doubles match. The Fighting Hawks competed against seven other programs: Nebraska, Marquette, Omaha, Creighton, Gustavus, Northwest Missouri State and host-Drake. 

FRIDAY (Doubles Only) 
The opening day of the weekend brought the lone-doubles action of the tournament, with teams being split into groups of four to compete in a round-robin style of play. 

Cian McDonnell and Nikita Snezhko were the highest pairing of Hawks in the group, competing in the "C" round robin. After a pair of tough defeats (6-8, 5-8), the duo fought back for an 8-7 (5) victory over Punnoose/Terakanambi to end play with a win and grab a third place finish. 

In the "D" tournament, Riley Odell and Gerhard Sullwald finished second in the group with a 2-1 mark to post the first winning record of the weekend for the green and white. The pair got off to a strong start with an 8-5 win over Wikstrom/Fridinger before moving to the championship round with an 8-6 triumph over Tennison/Krstulovic, but dropped an 8-2 decision in the title match. 

Edmond Aynedjian and Petro Alex provided the biggest pop in doubles play on Friday in the "F" round robin, cruising to a 3-0 record and title. The duo started with their toughest match, an 8-6 victory over Brady/Dale, but rattled off 8-4 and 8-1 wins in their final pair of matches to finish with the perfect mark. 

SATURDAY (Singles Only) 
The attention turned to singles action over the final two days of play, with eight flights participating. Sullwald saw action in the top flight for the Hawks, bouncing back from a loss in his first match to post a pair of 6-4 victories over Neel Raut to advance to Sunday's consolation title match. 

McDonnell picked up UND's first victory in the opening round of flights, moving to the semifinal of the "E" flight by forcing a third set with a 6-4 win after dropping the opening set, 7-5. In the tiebreaker, the Northern Ireland native closed it out by a 10-7 score to move on past Jan Jauch. McDonnell could not repeat his three-set magic in the semifinals, dropping the match by a 6-4, 2-6, 10-6 score to move into Sunday's third-place match. 

In the "F" flight, Odell followed a similar script to McDonnell, defeating Cameron Luhring in three sets: 6-4, 6-7 (2), 13-11 in a thrilling match to move into the semifinals. After taking the first set against Gabriel Sardo, 6-1, Odell fell in the final two frames to head to the third-place showdown on Sunday. 

After a loss in the "G" flight opener, Alex showed his bounce-back ability with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Sawyer Nickel to play in Sunday's consolation match. 

SUNDAY (Singles Only) 
The final day of action proved to be a day of bouncing back and wins for the Fighting Hawks, as the team turned in their best overall record of the weekend at 5-1. 

Aynedjian started the day off with a 6-0, 6-4 victory to earn a seventh-place finish in the "B" flight before Snezhko followed suit in the "C" flight with a 7-6 (3), 6-4 win over Alex Budde to earn both of them their first wins of the weekend. 

McDonnell closed out his weekend with a winning record and a third place title in "E" flight, once again needing three sets to capture his second victory. After a 6-2 win in the first set, Marco Siviero responded with a 7-5 victory of his own to force a tiebreaker. There, McDonnell closed it out with a 10-6 triumph. 

The "F" flight proved to be similar fortune for the Hawks, with Odell needing only two sets, 7-6 (3), 6-4, to defeat Shaddy Khalafallah for another third-place crown. Alex made it back-to-back wins to close out his weekend, with a pair of 6-4 scores to earn the consolation title in the "G" flight over Nathan Balthazor. 

North Dakota will return to action next weekend in Omaha, Neb. for the Creighton Invite on Sept. 24-25. 

FULL RESULTS CAN BE FOUND HERE