Lobos Fare Well at ITA All-American in Tulsa
TULSA, Okla. — Dominic West, ranked No. 101 in the country, picked up a singles win in the main draw consolation bracket, and UNM had plenty of solid results at the Saint Francis Health System ITA All-American Championships at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the University of Tulsa campus and Case Tennis Center at LaFortune Park in Tulsa, Okla.
“This week has been a great experience for our team. I’m very happy with the way we competed against some of the strongest players in the country and it has showed us that we are taking steps in the right direction,” said head coach Ben Dunbar. “We still have many areas we can improve and we will focus on this in the coming days in preparation for regionals, which is in Denver starting Wednesday.”
UNM had one player in the main draw of 64, and that was Dominic Well, ranked No. 101 in the preseason rankings. He faced Baylor’s 44th-ranked Sven Lah, falling 6-4, 6-3. He was able to win his round of 32 consolation match over Oklahoma’s Jake van Emburgh, who entered ranked No. 47, winning 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. That moved West to the colsotation round of 16, where his run ended with a 6-0, 6-2 loss to 15th-ranked Bar Botzer of Wake Forest
In the qualifying draw, No. 90 ranked Stepan Holis lost to Noah Schachter of Texas A&M 6-4, 6-2, but he bounced back with a 7-6, 6-4 win over Belmont’s Marko Ilic
UNM had three players in the pre-qualifying draw of 256, each needing four-straight wins to advance to the qualifying draw, but all three lost in the opening round. With Facundo Bermejo getting the closest, losing in three sets to Mark Mandlik of Oklahoma.
UNM had one doubles team in Tulsa, with West and Bermejo playing a pair of epic matches. In their opener, they defeated UAB’s Michel Iusovosky and Roman Postolka 6-7 (5-7), 7-5 (7-5), 1-0 (11-9). That moved them into the round of 32, where they lost to Old Dominion’s Jannik Giesse and Francois Musitelli 0-6, 7-5, 1-0 (17-15).
ITA All-American Pre-Qualifying matches:
Luke Hammond (Oklahoma State) d. Alexander Maggs 6-4, 6-1
Mark Mandlik (Oklahoma) d. Facundo Bermejo 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
Thibault Frumholz (Temple) d. Jake Trondson 6-2, 7-5
ITA All-American Qualifying Matches:
Noah Schachter (Texas A&M) d. #90 Stepan Holis 6-4, 6-2
ITA All-American Qualifying consolation:
#90 Stepan Holis d. Marko Ilic (Belmont) 7-6 (9-7), 6-4
ITA All-American Main draw:
#44 Sven Lah (Baylor) d. #101 Dominic West 6-4, 6-3
ITA All-American main draw consolation:
#101 Dominic West d. #47 Jake van Emburgh (Oklahoma) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
#15 Bar Botzer (Wake Forest) d. #101 Dominic West 6-0, 6-2
ITA All-American doubles Qualifying:
West and Bermejo d. lusovosky and Postolka (UAB) 6-7, 7-6, 11-9
Giesse and Musitelli (ODU) d. West and Bermejo 6-0, 5-7, 17-15