GEORGETOWN, Ky. – Over the course of the last several days, the Milligan University men's and women's tennis squads sent a group of athletes to Georgetown, Ky. for the ITA NAIA Southeast Regional Championships, hosted by Georgetown College.
Gonzaga Lafarga reached the Quarterfinal round in men's singles for the second straight year, as the major result from the tournament.
Milligan's women's singles players were freshman
Parker White, freshman
Madison Berry, sophomore
Lee Anne Endler, junior
Melissa Duarte and freshman
Sarah Crouse. White, Duarte and Crouse were eliminated in the round of 64 at the event, while Berry managed a big 6-1, 6-3 win to advance to the round of 32, in which she fell in a tight tiebreak match (4-6, 6-4, 6-10). Endler advanced twice to the round of 16, scoring 3-6, 6-4, 10-4 and 6-0, 6-2 triumphs before matching up with the No. 4-ranked player in the region in the third round and dropping that match.
Six Buffs men played in singles, with only one having to play in the round of 128.
Brayden Kennedy advanced with a 3-6, 7-5, 10-7 win to begin the event. Three players, Kennedy,
Tomas Tenil and
Martin Mercarder had their tourneys end in the round of 64, while
Thiago Petry (6-0, 6-0),
Phil Schollhorn (WD) and Lafarga (6-7, 6-4, 10-3) moved on to the round of 32. Petry's road would end in the round of 32 with a 2-6, 0-6 loss, but both Schollhorn and Lafarga sped forward to the round of 16 with 6-2, 4-6, 10-4 and 3-6, 6-0, 10-5 wins, respectively. Schollhorn concluded his trip to Kentucky with a 3-6, 1-6 loss in the round of 16, but Lafarga kept the train chugging, winning a 6-2, 6-1 result to put him into the Quarters. Lafarga then had his trip through the bracket end in a 1-6, 4-6 loss as the top MU finisher.
Two Milligan women's doubles pairs entered the competition, as the White/Berry duo fell in a tiebreak 6-7 (4-7). The Duarte/Endler pairing dominated 6-0 in the round of 32 and then sped past the round of 16 into the Quarterfinals with a 7-5 triumph over the fifth-ranked duo in the region. In the Quarters, they were outdueled by the No. 4-seeded team, 4-8.
Three Buffaloes men's doubles pairings played over the course of the tourney, with all three having byes into the round of 32. In the round of 32, the Petry/
Michal Curlej doubles set fell 2-6. The other two Milligan matches in the round were victories, with Schollhorn/Lafarga coming out with a 6-2 win and Kennedy/Tenil reaching a 6-4 triumph. The round of 16 would prove to be the conclusion for both remaining pairs, as Schollhorn/Lafarga fell 3-6 and Kennedy/Tenil also lost 3-6.
More Buffaloes tennis action sits just around the corner, as both squads will head to UVA Wise at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4 to play the Cavaliers, followed by a 3 p.m. matchup with the Southern Virginia Knights on the same courts.
RESULTS
