USTA/ITA REGIONALS: Two Bruin Singles, Two Doubles Still Alive after Two Rounds

WALLA WALLA, Wash. - Two George Fox University players have advanced to the “Round of 16” in singles while two Bruin doubles teams are still alive after two rounds in the United States Tennis Association / Intercollegiate Tennis Association Men’s Pacific Northwest Fall Championships which got under way Saturday here at Whitman College.

The Bruins’ Justin McClain advanced with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Brandon Schlack of Pacific University in the opening “Round of 64”, followed by a 6-2, 7-6 win over Zach Lyons of Linfield College.  He will play again Sunday at 12:00 noon at the Whitman outdoor courts against second-seeded Andrew La Cava of Whitman.

Shawn Aldrich, a Bruin transfer from Sierra Community College, defeated Atanas Atanasov of Whitman 6-2, 6-2, and Will Agnew-Svoboda of Willamette University 6-2, 6-0.  His next match is set for Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at the outdoor courts against Matt Tesmond of Whitman.

Three other Bruins got to the second “Round of 32”.  Andrew Milton downed Chris Engelmann of Whitworth University 6-1, 6-2, but succumbed to sixth-seeded Jeff Tolman of Whitman 6-0, 6-3.  Preston Mann, seeded seventh, knocked off Michael Furuyu of Pacific 6-0, 6-1, but bowed to Will Huskey of Whitman 6-1, 4-6, 1-0 (10-7).  Peter Brown defeated Troy Patterson of Whitworth 6-4, 6-1 before being derailed by fourth-seeded Cody Ferguson of Willamette 6-3, 6-4.

Four Bruins were ousted in the first round: Nolan Staples by Jack Schreiber of Willamette 6-0, 6-1; Andy Tweet by Stefan Dembach of Whitworth 4-6, 7-6, 1-0 (7-3); Collin Hammagren by Cameron Williams of Whitworth 7-5, 6-0; and Pax Magaway by Reed Gunstone of Pacific Lutheran University 2-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-6).

In the lower bracket following first and second-round elimination, Tweet and Hammagren advanced to the third round.  Tweet defeated Lukas Kleinman of Linfield 8-2 and Hammagren dropped Hector Alcayde of Pacific 8-3 in their first matches, then both received byes to the third round.  Tweet will play Sunday at 10:00 a.m. against Dan Cotten of PLU and Hammagren will go at 11:00 a.m. against Oliver Groot of Lewis & Clark College, both at the Bratton Tennis Center’s indoor courts. 

Bruins going out in the first round of the lower bracket were Staples by Ben Hamming of Whitworth 8-5, and Magaway by Groot 8-0.

In doubles, the tandem of Mann/Milton and Brown/McClain will represent George Fox in the quarterfinals.  Mann and Milton picked up wins over Agnew-Svoboda and Cameron Thompson of Willamette 8-2, and over Carter Gee-Taylor and Groot of Lewis & Clark 8-2.  Brown and McClain outdid Lucas Fodor and Scott Monismith of L&C 8-1, then dispatched Ben Hamming and Micah Spaun of Whitworth 8-5. 

The George Fox doubles team of Aldrich and Hammagren opened with an 8-4 win over Ben Brewer and Micah Roos of Linfield, but ran afoul of Adriel Borshansky and Huskey of Whitman, who prevailed 8-3.  Bruins who lost in the first round of doubles were Staples and Tweet, who suffered an 8-5 setback to second-seeded Conor Holton-Burke and Tesmond of Whitman. 

Sunday’s times and places for the doubles matches have not yet been announced.

The Whitman Tournament is one of nine NCAA Division III regionals taking place around the country, featuring 64-player singles brackets and 32-team doubles brackets.  Tournament winners in both singles and doubles will advance to the ITA / USTA National Small College Championships, slated for next month in Mobile, Ala.

For complete brackets on both singles and doubles, visit the host Whitman College athletics web site at http://www.whitman.edu/whitman/index.cfm?objectid=8F3E58CE-982A-15E9-0D90C9CE045AA082.