GREENWOOD, Ind. – From the brink of elimination, UIndy's top doubles duo rallied to claim the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Region doubles championship. By toppling the 32-team bracket,
Arklon Huertas del Pino and
Andrea Morlet will represent the region at the upcoming ITA Oracle Cup, Oct. 13-15 in Surprise, Ariz.
Before the Greyhound pair provided perhaps the most thrilling match of the weekend, they had to win their semifinal meeting with Drury's Sacha Mourier and Nico Sigloch. It was the Hounds' closest match of the weekend to that point, but they marched into the finals by an 8-5 score.
Another Panther team awaited UIndy in the finals, as fourth-seeded Max Hepp and Sebastien Amato overcame the top-seeded Lewis team in their semifinal match.
The title bout lived up to its billing as both sides proved worthy of the crown. After UIndy built a slim lead, Drury bounced back to tie the match and grab a 7-6 lead of its own. That's when the Greyhound tandem put on a dazzling display of resilience, as the Panthers got to match point no less than seven times in the next game.
Morlet and Huertas del Pino stopped each of the seven points, and eventually tied the match at 7-7 while grabbing all of the momentum. The Hounds won the next two games to seal the victory, ending on this final point from Huertas del Pino:
It marks the first time UIndy will have a doubles representative at the national tournament, and second-ever appearance after Huertas del Pino's regional singles title last fall.
The other semifinal match for the Hounds Sunday was junior
Christoph Drechsler against Ferris State's Till von Winning in the regional's singles bracket. Drechsler and von Winning, seeded sixth and fifth, respectively, met during UIndy's 7-2 victory against Ferris State last regular season, with von Winning taking a narrow 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (11-9) decision.
Sunday's contest was just as close, but again von Winning got the upper hand with a 7-6(8), 6-4 win to advance to the finals.
Drechsler found himself having to rally multiple times in the first set, coming back from a 3-0 deficit early and a 6-5 hole later with the set on the line. After forcing a tiebreak, the Greyhound junior had von Winning on the ropes multiple times, but the Bulldog sophomore answered the call each time, and eventually won the tiebreak 10-8, and the following set, 6-4.
SATURDAY
Members of the UIndy men's tennis team continued competition at the ITA Midwest Regional Championship Saturday. In singles,
Christoph Drechsler advanced to the semifinals, and
Arklon Huertas del Pino and
Andrea Morlet also reached the final four in the doubles bracket.
Each one of the Greyhounds in the singles bracket advanced to the quarterfinals, meaning UIndy filled four of the eight remaining spots in the draw.
Junior
Christoph Drechsler, the tournament's six-seed, began the day with a straight-set 6-3, 6-2 win against Cedarville's Matt Brumbaugh.
Sophomore
Magnus Mueller, who defeated Lewis' nationally-ranked Mate Srdanovic in the Round of 32, picked up Saturday with a tough 6-0, 1-6, 1-0(3) victory over Tiffin's Andrew Isaac, setting up a meeting with teammate Drechsler in the quarterfinal.
Drechsler, who fell in the quarterfinal round at the ITA Regional tournament a season ago, bested his countryman 6-1, 6-2, ending Mueller's run and moving into the semifinal match.
After a narrow 7-5, 7-5 win in the Round of 16 over Drury's Sebastien Amato, UIndy junior
Nils Hoffacker met Ferris State's Till von Winning in the quarterfinal. The Bulldog sophomore won the matchup, which featured two seeded players, 6-1, 6-4, denying Hoffacker a chance to face teammate Drechsler in the semifinals for the second time this season.
Drechsler and von Winning will square off at noon Sunday for a chance to move into the final match.
UIndy senior
Arklon Huertas del Pino continued his title defense with a 6-2, 6-2 decision over Northwood's Austin Woody, who finished last season among the top 20 in the Oracle/ITA Division II Midwest singles rankings.
In the quarterfinal, Huertas del Pino met Southern Indiana's James Hardiman, falling 7-6(4), 6-4, for his first defeat of the season.
In doubles action, Huertas del Pino and
Andrea Morlet proved the strength of their two-seed ranking entering the tournament. The duo began with an 8-4 win over USI's Sam Kiladejo and Denis Davydov in the Round of 16, and followed with an 8-3 victory against the fifth-seeded pair of Austin Woody and Kobus Sauerman from Northwood.
The UIndy tandem will meet Drury's Sacha Mourier and Nico Sigloch in Sunday's semifinal match.
In doubles consolation, Hoffacker and Mueller fell 9-8(4) to Walsh's Ross Whitaker and Felix Zimmerman.
FRIDAY
The UIndy men's tennis team performed to near perfection Friday in the opening day of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Regional.
Four singles players and two doubles duos took the courts Friday, starting at Center Grove High School in Greenwood, Ind., before inclement weather pushed most of the second-round singles matches indoors at the UIndy Tennis Center back on campus.
Senior
Arklon Huertas del Pino, the tournament's defending champ and this year's four-seed, began his title defense with a quick 6-1, 6-0 win against Tiffin's Elio Lezama. He followed up his opening-round victory with a 6-2, 6-1 win against Walsh freshman Felix Zimmerman, advancing to Saturday's Round of 16.
UIndy newcomer
Nils Hoffacker, a junior transfer from Pfeiffer, began the weekend with a swift 6-0, 6-1 victory over Lewis' Andre Norasith. The tournament's two-seed then followed with a 6-2, 6-3 win against Missouri-St. Louis' Alberto Maza Martin.
Junior
Christoph Drechsler, one of three Greyhounds to earn a top-eight seed, began by facing Wayne State sophomore Taylor Vane, winning 6-3, 6-3. He kept his momentum going with a solid 6-2, 6-3 decision over Southern Indiana's Aaron Barris.
Sophomore
Magnus Mueller got into a dogfight in his opening-round match against Saint Joseph's freshman Nicolas Palacio. After winning the opening set 6-1, Mueller led the second 5-2 before Palacio rallied to win, 7-6 (7), forcing a super tiebreak set. Mueller eventually edged out Palacio in the extra set, winning 10-6.
Perhaps the most notable individual win of the day came in Mueller's second round, though. He followed his hard-fought opening round with a stellar 6-0, 6-4 upset against Lewis senior Mate Srdanovic, who entered the tournament as the three-seed and finished last season No. 29 in the Oracle/ITA NCAA Division II singles rankings. Srdanovic was named to the All-GLVC Team a season ago as the Flyers' top singles player.
UIndy now has four of the 16 remaining singles players in the field, more than any other team competing in the regional.
In doubles action, the second-seeded tandem of
Andrea Morlet and Huertas del Pino defeated Wayne State's Mats Westkamp and Griffin Mertz, 8-4, in the Round of 32. The pair will face Walsh's Tom Davin Rohling and Vasily Vidmanov Saturday a 9 a.m. ET.
UIndy's other doubles team, Hoffacker and Mueller, fell 8-6 in a back-and-forth match against UMSL's Kristoffer Lindal and Rob White. The two will continue to compete in Saturday's consolation bracket.
With more rain in the forecast, tomorrow's matches may be moved to the UIndy Tennis Center. Stay tuned to @UIndyAthletics on Twitter for any information regarding location change.
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