University of Minnesota Athletics
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Lobak and Milicevic Battle for Spot in Central Region Championship
10/27/2019 6:43:00 PM | Men's Tennis
NORMAN,Okla. -- Semifinal Sunday at the ITA Central Region Championships saw Stefan Milicevic battle teammate Vlad Lobak for a spot in the singles championship on Monday. The Gophers also saw the doubles pairing of Vlad Lobak and Siim Troost take on the top seeded doubles pairing of the region, Will Davies and Oliver Okonkwo of Iowa.
DOUBLES PLAY
Starting the day off for the Gophers at 9:30, the new Gophers duo of junior Vlad Lobak and freshman Siim Troost looked to play spoiler in the doubles bracket, as they matched up against a tough opponent in 1-seeded doubles pairing Davies/Okonkwo of the University of Iowa. While the fourth seeded pair of Gophers hung in with the Iowa duo for three sets, their doubles tournament came to an end after falling 6-7(6), 6-2, 10-6.
SINGLES PLAY
Following his doubles match alongside Troost, Gophers junior Vlad Lobak had to turnaround and prepare to face yet another 1-seed in the singles bracket, as he was matched up against Jake Van Emburgh of Oklahoma. Despite his underdog status, Lobak was able to fight his way to a two set upset victory over Van Emburgh 7-5, 6-4 and move on to the regional semifinal stage.
While his teammate battled his way to an upset, senior Stefan Milicevic was looking to make it back to the ITA Central Region Semifinal for the second time of his career with the Maroon & Gold. Matched up against Mason Beiler, the 5-seed out of Oklahoma. A close match throughout, Milicevic pushed through to earn a 6-4, 7-5 victory and advanced to the semifinals.
Sunday concluded with a battle of the Gophers in the ITA Central Region Semifinal, as 12th-seeded Vlad Lobak and 4th-seeded Stefan Milicevic faced off for a spot in the singles championship on Monday. This match was for more than just bragging rights, as the winner would not only advance to the ITA Central Region Singles Championship, but they would also receive automatic qualification for Fall Nationals in Newport Beach, Calif. The two Gophers fought for all three sets, but it was the senior Stefan Milicevic who triumphed, winning 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 and advancing to play Kody Pearson of Tulsa tomorrow for the ITA Central Region title.
Notable:
With his win over Lobak, senior Stefan Milicevic will now play in his second career ITA Central Region Singles Championship, with the first being at the 2017 ITA Regional Championships. Milicevic went on to win his first championship match appearance 6-1, 6-1 over Nebraska's Toby Boyer.
Quotable:
"It feels good to be in the final of course, especially since it's been a long week out here with a bunch of solid players and a tough schedule," senior Stefan Milicevic said. "Regarding the match Vlad and I played, it felt unusual. We cheer for each other as a team throughout the whole weekend and want each other to do great, so having to step on the court to battle for the spot in the final was weird. Vlad had a great tournament and I'm looking forward to see what this season has in store for him."
Up Next:
Stefan Milicevic will play in the ITA Central Region Singles Championship match tomorrow at 12:00 against 3-seeded Kody Pearson from the University of Tulsa. The rest of the Gopher men's tennis team will return to Minneapolis, as they begin to prepare for the Florida Gulf Coast Invitational that begins Friday, Nov. 1 in Bonita Springs, Fla.