MADISON, N.J. – Matthew Michibata won all four of his matches and Akul Telluri reached a milestone as part of a strong opening effort for the TCNJ men's tennis team at the ITA Northeast Regional championships on Friday at Drew.

Michibata advanced to the round of 16 in championship singles with a pair of victories and paired with Harrison Maitland-Carter to win twice and reach the quarterfinals of the doubles championship draw. Freshman Ronaldo Jacome also reached the third round in singles.

The Lions got off to a hot start, as all four singles entrants picked up victories in their opening matches. The most notable was Jacome, who scored a 7-5, 7-5 upset of 9-16 seed Fernando Baiermeister of Vassar.

Another first-year, Maitland-Carter, won his regional debut with ease as he rolled past Lebanon Valley's Justin Schuetz by a 6-1, 6-3 decision.

Michibata, seeded in the 5-8 range, cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 win against Lebanon Valley's Adam Warren, and Nikola Kilibarda was a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Vassar's Nolan Kubiak.

Jacome consolidated his opening upset with a straightforward 6-2, 6-3 win against RIT's Christian Birko to book his spot in the last 16. Michibata joined the freshman in the third round with a 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Vassar's Benjamin Almquist.

Michibata, a regional finalist in 2019, will meet Rochester's Krish Vennam for a spot in the quarterfinals, while Jacome will go against RPI's Igor Visnevskij.

The veteran and Maitland-Carter made a potent pairing in doubles, posting back-to-back 8-4 results against NJAC rivals Jordi Julia and Alejandro Ley and Hobart's Guthrie Speers and Hyat Oyer.

Michibata and Maitland-Carter take on Fernando Bauermeister and Nolan Kubiak of Vassar in the quarters on Saturday.

Telluri reached 50 career wins when he teamed with Jacome for an 8-4 victory against a pairing from Nazareth in the first round of the doubles championship draw. The duo bowed out to Hobart's Harry Lyu and Troy Steiner in the second round.

Maitland-Carter came within a point of reaching the third round of singles play, dropping a 6-2, 5-7, 12-10 heartbreaker in a super breaker with Hobart's Harry Lyu. Kilibarda also came up short in a tight contest, conceding a 7-5, 7-5 decision to Hobart's Sean Pesin.

The Lions also put a pair of doubles teams into the semifinals of the B draw. Brett Schuster and Alberto Thomas won all four of their matches, while Nick Matkiwsky and Rahul Panoli finished 3-1.

Derek Jordan and Camden Poitras were 1-2 with one of their losses coming in a tiebreaker.