Solid Weekend at the ITA Midwest Regional for Men's Tennis

Cleveland State Men’s Tennis – ITA Midwest Regional

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Cleveland State men's tennis team finished play at the ITA Midwest Regional Saturday, with competitors bowing out of both the Main Singles Draw and the Main Doubles Bracket.

Matt Kuelker, who was the first Viking to advance to the Round of 32 in the main singles draw since 2009, dropped his second round match today, falling to eighth-seeded Drew Lied of Michigan State (7-6, 6-3).

"I thought Matt Kuelker was playing at a very high level this weekend, both of his singles matches were hard fought matches and he was playing good tennis in both," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "During his match today he had some opportunities to take the first set, but he just couldn't close it out. Despite his opponent really controlling the second set, Matt was focused and played solid tennis until the end."

After the first round, CSU had two doubles teams still alive in the main bracket – but both duos dropped their Round of 32 matches Saturday afternoon. Ali Shabib and Jorg van der Vloet fell to a Michigan State duo that was seeded No. 16, while Matt Kuelker and Manuel Bellutti fell to the second-seeded doubles team from Ohio State.

"We came across two good Big Ten teams today in doubles action, and they both played very aggressive tennis and we just weren't able to get anything working for us," Etzkin said. "I saw some good things throughout the weekend, and I definitely see some potential for the upcoming spring season. There have been lots of positives throughout the fall tournament schedule, and we look forward to getting back after it during the spring."

The Vikings will now take a break from competition, and will get back to action during the spring season. CSU's first spring match will take place on January 24, 2014 against Western Michigan.

CSU Results

Main Singles Draw
Drew Lied (MSU) def. Matt Kuelker (CSU), 7-6, 6-3 (Round of 32)

Main Doubles Draw
Linders/Pfister (MSU) def. Shabib/van der Vloet (CSU), 8-3 (Round of 32)
Kobelt/Metka (OSU) def. Kuelker/Bellutti (CSU), 8-3 (Round of 32)

Green Bay Men’s Tennis – ITA Midwest Regional

COLUMBUS, Ohio (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - The Green Bay men's tennis team is off to a strong start in doubles action at the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional Championships, hosted by Ohio State at the Varsity Tennis Center and Racquet Club of Columbus.

Green Bay knocked off a pair of Big Ten teams in the opening round of the main doubles draw on Friday. Sophomores Rowan Isaaks (London, England) and Leopold Gomez Islinger (Weiden, Germany) won an exciting battle against Ohio State's Goles Babic and Constantin Christ 8-7 (3), while junior Michael Tenzer (Neuried, Germany) and sophomore Howard Scott (Exeter, England) earned an 8-6 victory over Michigan State's Will Davis and Doug Zade.

Gomez Islinger is also still alive in the main singles draw, as he knocked off Michigan's Shaun Bernstein 6-2, 6-3.

The Phoenix is back in action on Saturday in both singles and doubles. Quarterfinal and doubles semifinal matches will be held on Sunday, while singles semifinal and both singles and doubles championship matches will be on Monday.

UIC Men’s Tennis – ITA Midwest Regional

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The UIC men’s tennis team concluded its fall schedule as competition wrapped at the ITA Midwest Regional. “Alexander Raa closed out the match well against NIU. He served great in the second set against Valparaiso,” Coach Hans Neufeld stated. “Overall, we need to get more consistent and dictate points. Alan Reifer and Carl Hedstrom played well in doubles. Each game was a drawn out battle, but we weren’t able to close out the deciding points.”

Beginning play in the qualifying round, Reifer, Isaac Lloveras, Maurizio Feoli, Raa, and James Li were all faced with tough competition.  Raa was able to come away with one win, taking down Northern Illinois’ Simon Formont (6-3, 7-5). In his final match in qualifiers, Raa was edged by Valparaiso’s Jeffrey Schorsch in a 6-2, 7-5 final.

Trying to make it to the next round, Reifer dropped his match to Valparaiso’s Dave Bacalla (6-1, 6-3), while Feoli fell in a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 final to Detroit Mercy’s Rafael Orantes. Lloveras fell short to Western Michigan’s Michael Treis in a 6-1, 6-2 final.  James Li was defeated by Silviu Mistreanu from Youngstown in the first round (6-2, 6-1).

The Flames were unable to make it past the first round in doubles.  With an 8-5 final, Raa and Reifer fell to Northern Illinois’ Dor Amir and Axel Lagerlof. Despite the end result, Feoli and Hedstrom were bested by Wisconsin’s Petr Satral and Alexander Kokorev in an 8-2 final.

UIC breaks for the remainder of the year and returns to competition in January to begin its regular season.

COMPLETE UIC RESULTS

Qualifier Draw - Singles
Dave Bacalla (VALPO) def. Alan Reifer (UIC) 6-1, 6-3
Michael Treis (WMU) def. Isaac Lloveras (UIC) 6-1, 6-2
Alexander Raa (UIC) def. Simon Formont (NIU) 6-3, 7-5
Silviu Mistreanu (YSU) def. James Li (UIC) 6-2, 6-1
Jeffrey Schorsch (VALPO) def. Alexander Raa (UIC) 6-2, 7-5
Rafael Orantes (DET) def. Maurizio Feoli (UIC) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2

Main Draw - Doubles
Dor Amir/Axel Lagerlof (NIU) def. Alexander Raa/ Alan Reifer (UIC) 8-5
Peter Satral/Alexander Kokorev (WISC) def. Maurizio Feoli/Carl Hedstrom (UIC) 8-2

Valparaiso Men’s Tennis – ITA Midwest Regional

The ITA Midwest Regionals ended for the Crusaders Saturday but not before freshman Jeffrey Schorsch (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg) won his ninth singles match of the fall season.

Schorsch outlasted DePaul's Paul John 6-0, 5-7, 12-10 in a consolation match at the Varsity Tennis Center in Columbus, Ohio. With the victory, Schorsch improved his record to 9-4.

Senior Eric Honert (Arvada, Colo./Ralston Valley) subbed in for a fatigued Dave Bacalla (Skokie, Ill./Niles North) and took Michigan State's JP Mullane to three sets before falling 10-8 in the third set tiebreaker. Honert won the second set 7-6 after dropping the first set 4-6.

Valpo didn't find the same good fortune in doubles action as it did in singles play.

The team of Lucas Waak (Manitowoc, Wis./Roncalli) and Danny Oakes (Elburn, Ill./Saint Charles North) lost their match 8-5. Bacalla and Charlie Emhardt (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) also suffered the same 8-5 fate in their doubles tilt. Schorsch and Honert lost 8-1 in their match Friday night.

The ITA Midwest Regionals was the final event on the fall slate.

The spring schedule should be released next month.

Youngstown State Men’s Tennis – ITA Midwest Regionals

Columbus, Ohio - Members of the Youngstown State men's tennis team were in action on Thursday and Friday at the ITA Midwest Regionals in Columbus, Ohio, at the Ohio State Varsity Tennis Center.

On Thursday during the qualifying round, the Penguins won three singles matches, two by junior Silviu Mistreanu. Mistreanu won his opener over UIC's James Li, 6-2, 6-1. In the second round, Mistreanu won a hard-fought 6-7, 7-5, 7-6 match over IPFW's Gerard Guell. That was the final match of the session lasting to almost 11 p.m.

In third-round qualifying action on Friday, Mistreanu lost 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 to Muddappa Appanervanda of Illinois State.
Sebastian Hagn was his first round qualifying match defeating Martin Muadi of IPFW, 6-7, 7-2, 6-2. Hagn dropped his second round bout to Toledo's Mark Singnil, 6-2, 7-5.

In doubles play on Friday, the Penguins lost touch matches to Michigan and Wisconsin.

The Penguins conclude their fall campaign next weekend playing host to the YSU Fall Invitational. The schedule for the event will be announced later this week.

ITA Results

First-Round Qualifying
Mistreanu (YSU) def. James Li (UIC), 6-2, 6-1
Hagn (YSU) def. Martin Muadi (IPFW), 6-7, 6-2, 6-2
Nicolas Montoya (Notre Dame) def. Schmerin (YSU), 6-3, 7-6(6)
Manuel Bellutti (CSU) def. Campos (YSU), 6-4, 6-1

Second-Round Qualifying
Mistreanu (YSU) def. Gerard Guell (IPFW), 6-7, 7-5, 7-6
Mark Singnil (Toledo) def. Hagn (YSU), 6-2, 7-5

Third-Round Qualifying
Muddappa Appanervanda (ILS) def. Mistrenu (YSU) - 7-5, 4-6, 6-1

Doubles
No. 6 Shaun Bernstein/Alex Buzzi (UM) def. Campos/Mistreanu (YSU) - 8-4
Ferderik Strabo/John Zordini (WIS) def. Hagn/Kabli (YSU) - 8-5