[Tennis] Successes on the Court at ITA Regional for Tennis
Doane Tennis competed in the ITA Regional Tournament over the weekend in Wichita, Kansas. Three Tiger men and five women competed in singles and doubles over the three-day tournament.
Jorge Chevez (SR/Panama City, Panama) entered as the seventh seed and made another run at a championship as he advanced to the finals before falling to defeat. He won his first five matches, defeating three seeded players. The finish caps off Chevez' ITA regional career for the Tigers where he posted a championship ('19), a runner-up ('22), a tie for third ('20), and a tie for 5th ('21).
In the opening round, he defeated Southwestern's Santiago Marin, 6-3, 7-5. His easiest match, as far as scores go, was in his second match as he defeated Oklahoma Wesleyan's Jorge Catala Ortiz, 6-1, 6-0. In the Round of 16, Chevez defeated the 10-seed, Bryce Ware of Kansas Wesleyan, 6-3, 6-4. The Quarterfinal Round saw Chevez defeat the 2-seed, Zinovii Nahirniak of William Woods, 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 (10-5). On the final day of action, Chevez started out with a three-set win over the 3-seed, Vitek Subert of William Woods, 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 6-2. In the championship match, the 1-seed, Vaclav Schneider of William Woods, defeated Chevez, 6-1, 6-1.
Jose Purizaca (SO/Lima, Peru) opened with a loss to Midland's Ben Starman, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3. He followed with a win over Kansas Wesleyan's Adam Hanson, 8-5, and a win over Bethany's Rodrigo Sanchez Hurtado, 8-0.
Federico Infante (JR/Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) dropped his first match to Baker's Alejandro Hernadez-Carreno, 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (11-9). He bounced back with a win over Kansas Wesleyan's Garrison Wright, 8-4, but fell in his final match to Midland's Luca Struffi, 9-8 (9-7).
In doubles play, Chevez and Purizaca teamed up for the Tigers. In the opening match, McPherson's Zhiyuan Wei and Trey Murphy won 8-6. Chevez and Purizaca bounced back with two wins in the consolation bracket to go 2-1 in the tournament. They defeated Baker's Davis Steadman and Hernadez-Carreno, 8-0, and Tabor's Mateo Garcia and Mickel Alexander, 8-6.
The Tiger women had four players in the singles bracket. Liz van der Torre (SR/Greeley, Colo.) won her opening match over Bethel's Nalea Payton, 6-0, 6-3. She dropped her second match to the 4-seed, Camila Sanchez of McPherson, 6-4, 6-2.
Ava Macke (SR/Omaha, Neb.) won her opening match over Bethel's Halle Krehbiel, 6-4, 6-1. She was downed by Ottawa's Isidora Hrnjak, the 11-seed, 6-2, 6-1.
Nina Ngo (SR/Crete, Neb.) was edged out in the opening round by Kansas Wesleyan's Michaela Crowe, 6-1, 4-6, 1-0 (10-3). In a consolation match, she defeated Hanna Wood of Friends, 8-2.
Kailyn Groski (SR/Papillion, Neb.) met up with the 2-seed in her opening match, Hanna Lindeboom of William Woods, 6-0, 6-0. Lindeboom would make it to the bracket championship, falling in a tie-break in the third set. Groski dropped her consolation match to Concordia's Alana Lopez Pagan, 8-1.
In doubles play, the duo of Macke and van der Torre dropped their opening match to Texas Wesleyan's Carla Arce and Paula Cepa, 8-2. They followed with three straight wins to claim the consolation bracket championship. They started the run with an 8-0 win over Baker's Ciarra McWilliams and Cambrie Frame. They defeated Jahzuena Bradshaw-Douglas and Maria Mistereck of Bethany, 8-6, to advance to the bracket championship. In the final match, Macke and van der Torre defeated Baker's Carol Ferraz-Porto and Clarice Langfoss, 9-7.
Groski teamed with Grace Schroller (FR/Marysville, Kan.) and dropped the opening match to McPherson's Kayla Ortiz and Camila Sanchez, 8-2. In the consolation bracket, they fell to Bradshaw-Douglas and Mistereck of Bethany, 8-4.
Doane will begin their dual schedule on Saturday, October 8, when they play host to William Jewell. The men's match will start at 11 AM with the women scheduled to start at 3 PM.