University of Minnesota Athletics
Players Mentioned
Trio of Gophers Move on to Doubles Semifinals; Singles Quarterfinals
10/26/2019 6:57:00 PM | Men's Tennis
NORMAN, Okla. -- A busy day for the Gophers at the University of Oklahoma was capped off with a pair of Gophers heading to the doubles semifinals and pair of Gophers playing in the singles quarterfinals tomorrow in the ITA Central Region Championships. The Gophers ended the day with a team singles record of 6-4 and a team doubles record of 1-1.
DOUBLES PLAY
In the first of two quarterfinals matchups for the Gophers on Saturday, the upperclassmen duo of senior Eli Ogilvy and junior Jackson Allen matched up against a tough opponent in Luke Hammond and Emile Hudd of Oklahoma State. The pairing for the Cowboys came into the doubles bracket with the 5-seed, while Allen and Ogilvy received the 9-seed. In a hard fought match, it was the fifth seeded side from Oklahoma State that came out on top by a score of 8-6, ending the doubles run of Ogilvy and Allen.
While Ogilvy and Allen battled it out on one side of the doubles bracket, another Maroon & Gold wearing duo were fighting for their spot in the semifinals. The Gophers duo of Vlad Lobak and Siim Troost received the fourth seed in the doubles bracket for this year's regional tournament, but that didn't make their quarterfinals match any easier. Matched up against the Oklahoma pairing of Jochen Bertsch and Matt Rodriguez, the Gopher junior and freshman battled their way to a 8-4 victory over the Oklahoma side, moving on to the semifinals tomorrow.
Lobak and Troost will take on the 1-seed in the doubles bracket this year in Will Davies and Oliver Okonkwo from the University of Iowa tomorrow morning at 9:30, with a spot in the Central Regional Championship match on the line.
SINGLES PLAY
A long and exciting day of singles competition saw four Gophers advance to the Round of 16 in singles play, followed by two of those four moving on to tomorrow's quarterfinals for the Maroon & Gold. Senior Stefan Milicevic and junior Vlad Lobak each punched their ticket into tomorrow's Central Regional Quarterfinals for the singles draw.
Gophers junior Vlad Lobak won his first match against Elio Lago of Wichita State 6-2, 7-5 before going on to defeat Oklahoma State sophomore Emile Hudd 7-6(5), 6-3. Lobak is set to face Jake Van Emburgh of the University of Oklahoma tomorrow, the No. 1 overall seed in the singles draw at 11:30 a.m.
Senior Stefan Milicevic would also go on to win his Round of 32 and Round of 16 matches against Jochem Bertsch of Nebraska (6-4, 1-6, 6-2) and Victor Moreno Lozano of Nebraska (6-0, 6-2). By advancing to the quarterfinals tomorrow, Milicevic has reached the ITA Central Regional Quarterfinals or further in three consecutive seasons with the Maroon & Gold. Milicevic will play against 5-seed Mason Beiler of Oklahoma, also at 11:30 a.m.
Senior Eli Ogilvy and junior Jackson Allen both played in today's Round of 32 matches, but were defeated by Oklahoma's Mason Beiler (6-3, 6-4) and Drake's Evan Fragistas (6-4, 4-6, 7-5) respectively. Gophers sophomore Sebastian Vile was amongst the Gophers playing in the Round of 16 today following his victory over Alberts Sprlak-Puk of Nebraska (6-3, 6-1). Vile would go on to lose to second seeded Kareem Allaf of Iowa 6-1, 6-1 in the Round of 16. Gophers freshman Siim Troost also went on to win his Round of 32 match 6-2, 7-5 against Matt Rodriguez of Oklahoma, before falling in the Round of 16 to Kody Pearson of Tulsa 6-1, 6-7(1), 7-5.
Notable:
Junior Vlad Lobak currently has a seven match winning streak in singles play that goes back to his first win of the streak last season against Noe Khlif from the University of Illinois on April 20.
Quotable:
"Siim and I are just trying to play aggressive by using our big serves and trying to take the net," junior Vlad Lobak said. "In my singles matches I just took care of my nerves and it went well. I'm just trying to enjoy being out there on the court."
Up Next:
Milicevic, Lobak, and Troost are all set to play tomorrow for the Gophers, starting with Troost and Lobak's semifinal doubles match at 9:30 a.m. followed by Milicevic and Lobak's singles matches at 11:30 a.m.