In one of the highlights of the fall season, Illinois men’s and women’s tennis traveled to East Lansing, Michigan and Columbus, Ohio respectively for the Midwest Regional Championships. The tournament was one of three ways to qualify for the individual NCAA championships, which will begin in late November. Both squads saw familiar faces, as each of the men’s and women’s Midwest regionals featured several Big Ten schools.
The action began on Thursday in the qualifying singles draw. Sophomore Rosie Seccia and freshman Ariel Madatali represented the women’s team in Columbus, needing two wins to secure a spot in the main singles draw. Thanks to a strong fall season, Madatali was the qualifying bracket’s No. 6 seed.
Seccia and Madatali got off to a strong start and won their first matches in straight sets. Things got more difficult from there, as Seccia lost 6-4, 7-5 to one of the draw’s No. 9-16 seeds. However, Madatali punched her ticket to the main draw with another straight-set victory (6-1, 6-2).
“It was incredible,” said women’s head coach Evan Clark. “As a freshman, just to get through the qualies was great… that’s tough to do. She’s just a really tough out. She’s an incredible competitor, runs out every ball, makes you work and really frustrated some people this weekend.”
Madatali’s run did not slow down in the main draw, either. The first round saw a three-set comeback from the blue-chip freshman, followed by a straight-set victory. It was only then that Ohio State’s Teah Chavez, who was a No. 9-16 seed in the main draw, managed to take down Madatali.
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Junior McKenna Schaefbauer was the only other Illini to make it to the round of 16 in Columbus. Her journey started in the main draw as a No. 9-16 seed, matched up with Toledo’s Audrey Moutama. Schaefbauer made quick work of Moutama (6-1, 6-1) before cruising through Michigan’s Ava Bruno in the second round (6-2, 6-1).
The round of 16 saw Schaefbauer matched up against the main draw’s No. 5 seed and national No. 50, Sydni Ratliff. Despite dropping more games in the first set than in any of her previous matches, Schaefbauer claimed yet another straight-set win (6-4, 7-5). However, the quarterfinals is where it ended for Schaefbauer and the Illini.
Illinois did not have any deep runs in doubles, and each of its four pairings lost after winning one match.
In East Lansing, for the men, junior Kenta Miyoshi was putting together a dominant run. The tournament’s No. 5 seed, Miyoshi, steamrolled through the first three rounds without dropping a single set. Pressure was applied by Sebastian Dominko, the draw’s No. 4 seed, in the quarterfinals, but the result was all the same. After claiming a dominant first set, Miyoshi stood firm through a tie-breaking second set to win 6-2, 7-6(6).
The tournament’s No. 6 seed, Alexander Bernard, was up next in the semifinals, but Miyoshi still refused to drop a set. Following an intense 18 point tiebreak, Miyoshi claimed a 6-4 second set and advanced to the finals (7-6(8), 6-4). The final two players in the singles bracket earned individual NCAA championship bids, making Miyoshi the lone Illini to qualify.
“The first three matches… I was pretty much dominating the opponents,” said Miyoshi. “I felt pretty good on (the) court. From the quarterfinals, semis, I played two tough opponents. Both were lefties. I knew it was gonna be a tough match, but I tried to stay focused on my game. I tried to think about how I can be tougher than the opponent and how strong I can be on court.”
Redshirt junior William Mroz also had an outstanding tournament. The Florida native kept pace with Miyoshi on the other half of the bracket all the way to the semifinals. His run included two straight-set wins but was headlined by a three-set, 34-game win over the No. 7 seed in the round of 16 (7-5, 3-6, 7-6(4)). In the semifinals, Mroz was up against both the tournament and national No. 1 singles player, Ozan Baris. Baris took down Mroz 6-4, 6-3 before moving on to the finals and also defeating Miyoshi 6-4, 6-3.
The men also had strong showings in doubles, with all three duos advancing to the round of 16. They began to thin out from there as Miyoshi and senior Mathis Debru were taken down by the bracket’s No. 5 seed. Redshirt junior Gabrielius Guzauskas and Mroz fell in a tight quarterfinal match (8-6), while redshirt sophomore Tyler Bowers and redshirt freshman Zach Viiala continued to roll.
Despite having played just two matches together before this weekend, the unlikely duo took down two nationally ranked opponents (No. 22, No. 89) en route to the finals match. Even after falling behind 7-5 in the first set against the tournament’s top seed, Bowers and Viiala battled back. A dominant 6-2 win in the second set forced a super tiebreak, where they came just two points shy of victory (7-5, 6-2, 15-13). Unlike singles, only the winning doubles team received an NCAA championship bid.
Both Illinois men’s and women’s tennis have some time off before resuming action. The men have three professional tournaments before returning to compete in the Notre Dame Mini Duals on Nov. 1. The women pick up just one day sooner, playing at the TCU Jae Foundation Invitational on Halloween.
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