NEWBERG Ore. -- The men's tennis team kicked their season off at home, hosting the ITA Northwest Regional Championships. The Bruins continued their success from the spring, notching several wins despite returning only four players. 

How it Happened 
Lars Schmassman returns for the Bruins as the number one seed in the tournament, proving why he earned that spot early on. The Switzerland native defeated Lewis and Clark's Arnav Bishnoi in his singles match 6-1, 6-3, following a first round bye. This was good enough to earn Schmassman a spot in the round of 16. 

Zach Moore and Ikuho Ebisu joined Schmassman with a bye in the first round of singles, both waiting until the afternoon to get their days started. Moore won his round of 32 match 6-2, 6-3, taking down Whitman's Noah Baker. Ebisu took his match all the way down to the wire against Whitworth's Ryan Ashley, defeating the freshman 6-4, 2-6, 10-8. 

Jackson Whittaker won both of his singles matches to secure the Bruin's fourth spot in the round of 16. Whittaker knocked out Whitworth's Henry Preacher 6-2, 6-2, before pulling off the upset against Pacific's Joshua Matabuena 6-4, 6-1. 

Luis Hernandez and Kieta Shoji both made their Bruin debut, starting off the day in the round of 64. Shoji defeated Whitman Senior Chris O'Farrill 6-3, 7-5, before dropping his afternoon match 3-6, 6-1, 10-4, to Lewis and Clark's Noah Sutin. Hernandez followed a similar path, winning his morning match 6-4, 6-3, against Whitworth's Colby Cinqmars before falling to Lewis and Clark's Kai Wills 6-2, 6-4. Both look to battle back on Saturday as they drop to the second round consolation bracket.

Joseph Vece rounds out the Bruins as the lone athlete in Draw B for the weekend. Vece had a first round bye but narrowly dropped his match 6-2, 4-6, 10-3, to Linfield's Tommy Gabrielsen. He looks to bounce back tomorrow afternoon in the Draw B second round consolation bracket round of 16. 

Fox finished off their day with some late night doubles action. Hernandez and Shoji kicked things off for the Bruins, dropping their match 8-4 to Whitworth's Ryan Ashley and Matt Froslan. Schmassman and Ebisu both remained undefeated on the day, defeating Willamette's Andre Leif and A. Son 8-1. Moore and Whittaker also defeated Puget Sound's Carson Ward and Reef Gelder 8-5 to cap off a successful day for the Bruins. 

Coach's Thoughts
Soon to come…

What it Means
The Bruins look to continue their play at the ITA Northwest Regional's tomorrow, September 21st. Matches are set to start at 8:30 AM.