POMONA, Calif. — The California Lutheran University men's tennis team competed in the West ITA Regional Championships which was hosted by Pomona-Pitzer from Friday through Sunday.
Andy Ai and Aaron Moylan went the distance for the Kingsmen, going all the way to the finals in the Flight C consolation bracket. Both fell in their first match of the day, but bounced back to win three straight and advanced to the finals.
In the consolation bracket, Ai won the round of 16 qualifier (7-6 (6), 6-4), the quarterfinals (6-4, 3-6 (10-4)) and the semis (6-4, 4-6 (10-8)). Moylan won the round of 16 qualifier (6-1, 6-2), the quarterfinals (6-2, 4-6 (10-5)) and the semifinals 7-5, 6-3. The duo will play each other tomorrow at Cal Lutheran for the Flight C consolation crown.
Nine Kingsmen competed in the individual competition while two doubles teams were also in action.
There was a winner's and then consolation bracket. If you won your first match, you kept going in the winner's bracket until you were knocked out. If you lost your first match, you went to the consolation bracket. Athletes would advance through that until they lost and were knocked out.
Parker McBride, Dominik Stefanov and Ryan Murphy each won the first round match in the winner's bracket to start the tournament. McBride was in Flight A and won the round of 32 (3-6, 7-5 (10-5)), but fell in the round of 16 (3-6, 1-6).
Murphy and Stefanov competed in Flight C. Murphy won the round of 32 (6-2, 7-5) before falling in the round of 16 (5-7, 6-3 (10-12) while Stefanov won his first match (6-2, 6-4) before falling in the round of 16 (retired).
Noah Morrow and Darvel Lossangoye played in the Flight B. Both lost their first round and would go to the consolation bracket. Lossangoye won the consolation round of 16 qualifier (6-1, 6-0), but retired in the consolation quarterfinals. Morrow retired in the consolation round of 16 qualifier.
In Flight C, Shawn Rothermel, Vini Martins Torres and Ai competed for the Purple and Gold. All three lost in their first round and went to the consolation bracket.
Ai and Rothermel went the furthest of the three, going all the way through to the consolation quarterfinals and finals. Ai went to the finals of the consolation as Rothermel fell in the consolation quarterfinals (2-6, 6-4 (5-10)). Torres lost both of his matches and was eliminated in the consolation round of 16 qualifier.
In doubles, Lossangoye and Murphy won the round of 32 (8-3) before falling in the round of 16 (7-8 (5)). McBride and Morrow lost their round of 32 match (2-8) and then fell in the consolation round of 16 qualifier (4-8).
The Kingsmen made a great impression and are ready for the team's upcoming season, which starts in the spring.
ITA Fall West Regional Brackets
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Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
