But Hu struggled to find success in the first round of singles competition, losing to St. John’s veteran ace Valentin Mihai in a 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 three set marathon.

Mahlangu passed the first round with a 6-3, 6-7, 6-2 effort over Sam Todd of Dartmouth. In his second test, the freshman initially challenged Cornell’s Sam Fleck with a 6-7 victory in the first set. Fleck swept Mahlangu in the next set, 6-0, and fought to win the third set, 7-6, clinching the match.

Lam made it the furthest of the three rookies in singles. He received a bye through the first round and railed Marist’s Joris Van Eck, 6-2, 6-2, in the second. Centenari from the Big Green broke Lam in the third round, 6-4, 6-2.

The tournament also featured sophomore Shaun Chaudhari, who breezed by second and third round opponents Dalen Klassen of Marist and Venkat Iyer of Cornell, with 6-4, 6-1 and 6-3, 6-1 wins, respectively.

Chaudhari was eventually edged by Brown’s William Spector in a 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 three-setter.

The young team, composed of nine sophomores and freshmen and just three juniors and seniors, has two more tournaments on its slate this fall before play resumes in the spring.

“I think the tournament was a preview of the Ivy League this year,” Denis Nguyen said. “The teams were strong and maybe even stronger than they were last year. We’re going to have a lot of work to do if we want to win the championship again.”