Two Hilltoppers Advance to Round of 16
ABILENE, Texas - St. Edward's men's tennis team opened the 2009 Fall season in the Wilson/ITA South Central Region Championship hosted by Abilene Christian Friday afternoon.
In singles action seniors Bernie Lancaster and Brett Powers each advanced into the Round of 16. Lancaster defeated Vijit Sehgal of Northwest Missouri State, 6-4, 0-6, 10-5 and then took down Simon Blondin of Washburn, 3, 6. Powers received a first round bye and defeated Alejandro Jose of Southeastern Oklahoma, 6-3, 2-6, (9), in the second round. Junior Mick Walter passed the first round by defeating Calvin Patterson of Northwest Missouri State, 3, 3. Walter was defeated in the second round by fifth seeded Ryan Ward of Washburn, 4, 2. Junior Ryan Wiggins defeated conference rival Vitas VinDijk of St. Mary's, 3, 3 but fell to Alex Wieland of Incarnate Word, 4, 3. Senior Justin Raiti lost to Washburn's Yan Kasey, 6-3, 4-6, 10-4 while senior Boris Barrios fell to Northwest Missouri's Daniel Quesada, 3, 4.
In doubles play, the top seeded duo of Powers and Walter beat Giovanni Auricchio and Rafei Ferreira of Northwest Missouri, 6, 3. In the following round the pair defeated the Dallas Baptist team of Richard Abel and Bronson Vaughan, 7-6, (4), 7-2. The team of Barrios and Lancaster advanced to the Round of eight as well by defeating Clint Baird and Nick French of DBU, 2, 2. In the following round the duo defeated the second seeded team of Jose Arizpe and Francisco Segura of UIW, 1, 1. Raiti and Wiggins paired up as well and advanced passed the first round by defeating Branden Joost and Emmanuel Laurent of Washburn, 4, 2 yet they were defeated in the following round by Felipe Gennari and Daniel Quesada of Northwest Missouri, 6-4, 3-6, (4).
The Hilltoppers continue to play in the regional in Abilene on Saturday. Powers and Lancaster will compete in the singles Round of 16 and they will be joined by Walter and Barrios for doubles play.