University of Minnesota Athletics
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Freshmen Shine for the Gophers in Day One of ITA Regional Championships
10/24/2019 8:05:00 PM | Men's Tennis
NORMAN, Okla. -- The first day of competition at the 2019 ITA Central Region Championships proved to be a successful one for the Maroon & Gold on Thursday, with the team finishing with a 4-1 record in doubles play and a 2-1 record in singles play.
DOUBLES PLAY
The Gophers' tournament was kicked off early Thursday morning as the doubles pairing of senior Stefan Milicevic and freshman Bodin Zarkovic battled with the University of Nebraska-Omaha duo of Reekie/Hulme. Milicevic and Zarkovic were able to capture their first doubles win of the season in an 8-4 victory, and the pair advanced to the second round of play. In the second round, the senior/freshman tandem were set to face the Nebraska pairing of Sprlak-Puk/Cacciatore. Despite a well fought match by Milicevic and Zarkovic, it was the Nebraska pair that came out on top with a final score of 8-6.
The other three doubles pairings all received first round byes in the doubles bracket today, and therefore only needed to win one match today to advance to tomorrow's Round of 16. First, the pairing of junior Vlad Lobak and freshman Siim Troost made quick work of the Oral Roberts team of Sprouse/Guymon, as the Gophers advanced by a score of 8-0. While that match went on, Gophers sophomore Sebastian Vile and freshman Daniel Martin battled with Draheim/Scaglia of Oklahoma State. In an exciting and hard-fought match, it was the Gophers that came out on top, winning via tiebreaker 8-7 (7-5).
Finally, the upperclassmen pair of senior Eli Ogilvy and junior Jackson Allen came away with an 8-5 victory over the Wichita State tandem of Grueber/Serra. With today's results, this puts three doubles pairings donning Maroon & Gold into the ITA Central Round of 16 tomorrow, which is the most for the Gophers in this tournament since 2017 when the Gophers had four doubles pairings reach the Round of 16.
SINGLES PLAY
While six Gophers earned first round byes and didn't have to play in today's opening round of singles play, three Gopher freshmen played their first career singles match with the team, with two of them notching their first career singles wins on the team. To start things off, freshman Daniel Martin battled it out with Creighton's Armando Gandini. Martin only needed two sets to get past his opponent, as he advances to tomorrow's next round of matches by a score of 6-2, 6-3.
Later on in the day, redshirt freshman Dylan Heap matched up against Barnabas Koncz of Oral Roberts in his first collegiate appearance for the Maroon & Gold. Heap would go on to fall to Koncz by a score of 6-0, 6-4, but Heap still showed great promise in his Gopher debut. To round out the day for the Gophers, true freshman Bodin Zarkovic faced off against yet another Creighton opponent in Stratton Brown. In his first collegiate singles match, Zarkovic was able to capture a three set victory over Brown (6-2, 0-6, 6-4) to advance to tomorrow's Round of 64. With his win, Zarkovic will be one of the eight Gophers representing the team tomorrow in singles play.
Notable:
Three Gophers freshmen earned their first career doubles wins today (Martin, Troost, Zarkovic). In singles play, freshmen Daniel Martin and Bodin Zarkovic were also able to capture their first collegiate singles wins with the team.
Quotable:
Daniel Martin on earning his first career singles and doubles victories today: "I'm very happy to pick up my first wins today and happy with how I played as well. Hopefully I can carry it on tomorrow."
Up Next:
Doubles play will pick back up for the three remaining Gopher pairings tomorrow morning in Norman at 8 a.m. with the Round of 16 and then the quarterfinals of doubles play following immediately after. The eight remaining Gophers in singles play will then play tomorrow afternoon, starting with their Round of 64 matchups. Brackets and today's results can be found at the link above.