Hempstead, NY - Hofstra singles players went 10-1 in the main draw with five advancing to the semifinals in their respective flights as day one of the Hofstra Pride Invitational wrapped up at the Hofstra tennis Courts Friday evening. The event is Hofstra's first competition of the season and featured teams from Adelphi, Fairleigh Dickinson, Queens, Sacred Heart, Oneonta, Siena, and Wagner.

The Pride's doubles teams also fared well, as the three teams combined to go 5-1 in main draw competition with two tandems reaching the semifinals of their flight.

At "A" Singles, senior captain Marcus Smith posted a 2-0 record on the day to reach the semifinals. The Queens, New York, native downed Oneonta's Marco Ammirati, 8-0, in the first round and then picked up an 8-5 win over Siena's Tomas Del Olmo in the quarterfinals. Smith will face Wagner's Dylan Walters in the semifinals on Saturday. Senior Jan Leithner also competed at the "A" flight but dropped his first-round match, 8-6, against Cosme Jubera of Queens College to drop into the consolation draw.

In the "B" Singles flight, senior Coco Haener went 2-0 with wins over Adelphi's Sabin Saveluc (8-0) and Siena's Mohammad Sawani (8-4) to reach the semifinals. Haener will face Richard Sec of Queens in the semis.

A pair of freshmen reached the semifinals at the "C" Singles flight as Shawn Jackson and Giacomo Pezzoli each went 2-0 in the Hofstra debuts. Jackson, who had a first-round bye, defeated Luke Stirling of Oneonta, 8-5, in the round of 16 before dropping Bryan Einstoss of Sacred Heart, 8-2, in the quarterfinals. Jackson will take on Jose Zurro Polvorosa of Queens in the upper bracket semifinal. Pezzoli also had a bye in the first round and then posted a round of 16 win over Alex Reiley of Oneonta, 8-1, in the round of 16. He then took down Kevin Chao of Sacred Heart in the quarters, 8-2, to advance to the semifinals where he will meet Wagner's Ilya Kneppelhout.

Another Hofstra newcomer, Ryan Hardin, advanced to the semifinals of the "D" Singles draw. He defeated Oneonta's Kiran Narsipur, 8-3, in the first round and followed that with an 8-4 win over Francisco Del Valle of Sacred Heart in the quarterfinals. Hardin will face Stanislas Bedrune of Queens in the semifinals.

In the "A" Doubles draw, the team of Smith and Leithner notched a pair of wins to reach the semifinals. The Pride's top duo took a 6-1 decision over Adelphi's Pietro Sole and Sabin Saveluc in the opening round. The pair advanced again with a 6-4 victory over Fernando Ramirez and Kareem Rashad of Queens in the quarterfinals. Smith and Leithner will meet Anatoliy Lashkul and Dale Sandy in the semifinals on Saturday.

At "B" Doubles, the team of Haener and Jackson went 2-0 to reach the semifinals. The new pairing for the Pride picked up a 6-2 win over Siena's Cameron Kirkwood and Mohammad Sawani, and a 6-4 victory against Hugo Andrade and Nicholas Volos of Queens. The team of Hardin and Pezzoli did not fare as well. The freshman tandem won their first-round match, 6-2, over Jack Clayton and Ben Cohen of Oneonta before dropping a 6-1 decision to Sagar Bains and Alex Giannakitsidis of Siena.

In consolation play, Leithner advanced to the "A" semifinals with an 8-0 win over Oneonta's Ammirati.

The final day of the Hofstra Pride Invitational will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday.