Men's Tennis | 9/28/2021 2:13:00 PM
Photo by Davis Alksnis
Winfield, Kan. – The McPherson College men's and women's tennis teams wrapped up the individual portion of their fall schedule this past weekend at the ITA Regional Championships hosted by Southwestern College in Winfield, Kan.
Easily the most prestigious of the fall tournaments, with the singles and double champion getting an automatic bid to the ITA Oracle Cup (Fall Nationals) in Rome, Georgia, and rivaling the Tiger-Jinx Tournament in quality of competition. In both brackets, the Bulldog men and women saved their best for last, with several members of both squads making deep runs in an extremely strong field of athletes.
In the women's singles bracket, the Bulldog women were represented by
Polina Khoroshevskaya (7),
Grace Maxey (12), Erica Pardise (15),
Vanessa Mundo,
Kayla Ortiz, and
Kendra Maples. In doubles, Khoroshevskaya and Ortiz teamed up and were seeded 6
th while Pardise and Mundo and Maxey and Maples went into the tournament unseeded.
For the Bulldog women, Khoroshevskaya had the best showing in the singles draw. She made it to the semifinals, knocking off the tournament's no. 2 seed along the way. In the semis she won the opening set 6-4 but then dropped the second 7-5 to 6
th seeded Yana Goranova. Goranova had the momentum heading into the super tiebreaker, and she cruised to the victory 10-4.
In the doubles portion of the tournament, both Khoroshevskay and Ortiz and Paradise and Mundo got hot and made deep runs. Paradise and Mundo, the Bulldogs' no. 2 team this fall, knocked off the top seeded team from Tabor, Brubacher and Wait, in the quarterfinals, on their way to a spot in the finals. It was nearly an all Bulldog final, but Khoroshevskaya and Ortiz were knocked off in the semifinals the no. 2 seed team from Texas Wesleyan, 8-2. In the finals Paradise and Mundo lost a tough first set 6-4, and in the second the Texas Wesleyan duo put the pedal down and raced to a 6-1 victory.
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On the men's side, the Bulldogs were represented by eight players. Six suited up for the singles draw including
Michael Beltran (1),
Thomas Zych (14),
Daniel Marcano,
Rainy Yuan,
Oscar Brouwer, and
Martin Millos. In doubles, the Bulldogs subbed in
Jakob Komel and
Trey Murphy. Millos and Zych drew the no. 2 seed, while Beltran teamed up with
Jakob Komel and Marcano was paired with
Trey Murphy.
For the Bulldog men, the tournament turned into an intrasquad scrimmage in both the singles and doubles draws. Top seeded Beltran, cruised through his first two rounds, dropping a total of just five games. In the quarters he was tested in the opening set, but he won 7-5 then dominated the second set 6-2. He got another test in the first set of the semis winning in a tiebreaker. He ran away with the second set, winning 6-1 to advance to the finals where he met teammate
Thomas Zych. His big test came in the quarterfinals against 6
th seeded Raul Rivero from Bethany. He lost the first set in a tie break but then rallied to win the second set 6-3, and then won the super 10-3. In the semifinals he went to work against David Moral-Tebar of Southwestern, beating the senior 6-0, 6-2.Â
In the finals, Zych grabbed the first set 6-4, but Beltran bounced back to win the second set 6-2. For the finals the tournament format switched to a full third set rather than a super tie breaker to decide the outcome. In the third and deciding set, Zych was on fire and took the set 6-1 to punch his ticket to Rome (GA.).
In the doubles bracket, the Bulldogs' no. 3 team of Murphy and Mercano were in the top half of the draw. They made a run to the semifinals before falling to top seeded Cech and Bucek from Bethel in a tie breaker 9-8. The other two Bulldog team landed in the bottom half of the draw, Millos and Zych seeded no. 2, and Beltran and Komel unseeded. The draw was set up perfectly for a meeting in the semis between the two Bulldog pairs, and that's what transpired. There were no breaks or serve in the match until six all when Beltran and Komel finally capitalized on their chance. They went up 7-6 then held serve in the next game to win the match 8-6. Riding that momentum, Beltran and Komel ran roughshod over the top seeded Bethel team 6-0, 6-2 to earn a spot at the Oracle Cup. Beltran and Komel's win marks the 8
th year in a row that a Bulldog team has captured the ITA Regional doubles crown and represented McPherson College at the Oracle Cup.
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With their performances, Beltran in Singles, and Millos and Zych in doubles still have a chance to possibly make it into the Oracle Cup draw as At-Large selections. Those selections will be announced at a later date.
Bulldog head coach
Clay Allen, summed up the weekend saying, "It is amazing how many of our players went deep into this prestigious tournament! It shows the grit and heart of our programs. I am so happy for Jakob, Michael and Thomas, who are all guaranteed to be at the ITA Cup in Rome, GA., they get to show and compete against the best in the country there is nothing else like it."
The Oracle Cup is set to take place October 14-16.
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