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Pollanen Wins Midwest, Wilczynski Takes Northwest, & Sakinis/Pham To Meet in Northeast

by | Oct 26, 2015 | Blog

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Going into today semifinals many figured Ohio State would have 1 of its 2 guys make the finals but even the biggest of Buckeye fans wouldn’t have banked on 2 but that’s just what happened.

Buckeye junior Herkko Pollanen (UTR 13.39) cruised to a 6-1 opening set against the #1 seed Quentin Monaghan (UTR 14.08) but the Notre Dame senior took the second set 6-4 after breaking Pollanen’s 4-5 service game. Pollanen went ahead for good in the third set after breaking Monaghan’s 2-2 service game and Herkko would break again to close out the match for the 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 win.

Buckeye senior Chris Diaz (14.02) advanced to the finals after knocking off Northwestern junior Strong Kirchheimer (13.60) 7-6(6), 7-5 though Kirchheimer definitely had his chances in both sets.  Kirchheimer broke Diaz to go up 5-3 in the opening set but he’d be unable to serve the set out as Diaz broke back and held for 5-5.  In the opening set tiebreak Kirchheimer came back from 5-2 down to lead 6-5 and had set point on his serve but Diaz won both points on Kirchheimer’s serve and then won the next on his to take the tiebreak 8-6. In the second set Diaz would break Kirchheimer’s 5-6 service game to close out the win.

In the all-Buckeye final, Pollanen would jump out to a 3-1 lead in both sets and while he finished off the opening set without any issues Diaz would make a match of it in the second.  Despite the push by Diaz, Pollanen would break Diaz’s 5-6 service game to clinch the championship and automatic berth in next month’s National Indoor Intercollegiates.

It’s the 4th year in a row that an Ohio State Buckeye has won the Midwest singles title with Mikael Torpegaard taking it last year and Peter Kobelt winning it the 2 years prior.

Despite the loss Notre Dame’s Quentin Monaghan will still be heading to New York as an at-large due to his #5 preseason ranking.

Midwest (South Bend, IN) –  Singles & Doubles Draws

Semifinals 
[6] Herkko Pollanen (Ohio State) def. [1] Quentin Monaghan (Notre Dame) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
[2] Chris Diaz (Ohio State) vs. [8] Strong Kirchheimer (Northwestern) 7-6(6), 7-5

Championship 
[6] Herkko Pollanen (Ohio State/13.39) def. [2] Chris Diaz (Ohio State/14.02) 6-3, 7-5

Comments from Northwestern recap
“Strong competed at a high level throughout the tournament,” head coach Arvid Swansaid. “He was able to maintain control of points, and he served extremely well. He had chances today to advance to the finals but give credit to (Chris) Diaz for winning the match.”

Despite getting upset in the semifinals the day wasn’t a total loss for Notre Dame’s Quentin Monaghan as he and doubles partner Alex Lawson claimed the Midwest Region Doubles Championship with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Valparaiso’s Charlie Emhardt and Jeffrey Schorsch. Both the Notre Dame and Valpo recap have more details on today’s final.

Comments from Notre Dame’s recap

“That was only our second tournament (as partners) and we’re playing really well and I think our chemistry’s starting to come together,” Lawson said. “I just felt like we were so in-tune today and vibed off each other really well.”
“We came out with a lot of energy in the first and that was huge for us,” Monaghan said. “I think in the second set they were just a little more calm and played better, so it ended up being a good doubles match. I didn’t get to go (to nationals) last year so I’m really excited for that, but Alex did and he’s got plenty of experience on the doubles court, so it will be good to play with him.”“
“We’re always happy to host this event and it’s obviously one of the marquee events of the fall for our team, and it’s great to play on our home courts,” head coach and tournament director Ryan Sachire said. “I thought it was a pretty positive week for us and some guys obviously made some jumps and it’s always good to win a championship, too.  You enter tournaments to win them and win matches along the way. We certainly did a good job of that — Quentin and Eddy and Alex in particular, advancing to Sunday was a good representation of our program. By and large, the teams that have players playing on the last day of regionals are really good teams, so hopefully it means we can have some good success in the spring.”

Doubles Championship 
[2] Alex Lawson/Quentin Monaghan (ND) def [4] Charlie Emhardt/Jeffrey Schorsch (Valpo) 6-1, 7-5

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Northwest (Seattle, WA) – Stanford sophomore David Wilczynski (13.82) was the big winner in Seattle as he rolled over Oregon senior Daan Maasland (14.10) 6-3, 6-2 in the semis and then rallied late to beat Washington sophomore Mitch Stewart (13.51) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the finals.

Wilczynski was in control start to finish against Maasland with the only real hiccup coming when he got broke at love while serving for the match up 6-3, 5-1. After getting broke Wilczynski regrouped and broke back from 15-40 with Maasland putting a volley into the net on match point.

Stewart and his teammate Gal Hakak (13.70) played a close first set but Stewart picked up a late break to take the set 7-5 and then he jumped out to an early lead in the second and closed it out 7-5, 6-2.

The championship match between Stewart and Wilczynski was a back and forth affair. Stewart broke Wilczynski to start the match and then broke him again to go up 3-0 but Wilczynski would erase the double break deficit and take the next 6 games to take the opening set 6-3.  The second set stayed on serve until Stewart broke to go up 4-2 and he’d hold on to the one break lead to take the set 6-3. In the third and final set Stewart broke to go up 3-2 but Wilczynski broke back for 3-3. Stewart then broke again for a 4-3 lead but once again Wilczynski broke right back and this time Wilczynski would follow up the break with a hold for a 5-4 lead.  Wilczynski would finish off Stewart by breaking him for the 6th time in the match to close out the come from behind 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 win.

Wilczynski dropped just 2 sets during the Regional with the one today to Stewart and the other in his tight round of 16 win against Pacific’s Sem Verbeek 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(7).

Comments from Washington recap
“It was an incredible day to finish this event, said head coach Matt Anger. “It was tough having our guys play each other in the semifinals as that is always awkward. Mitch got the opportunity to play in the final and he and David Wilczynski put on a show. Mitch played super tennis and we have to hand it to David, he played well throughout the tournament and should do well in New York. Mitch will recover quickly as he played his heart out and is continuing to improve.

Semifinals 
[5] David Wilczynski (Stanford) def. [4] Daan Maasland (Oregon) 6-3, 6-2
[2] Mitch Stewart (Washington) def. [17] Gal Hakak (Washington) 7-5, 6-2

Championship 
[5] David Wilczynski (Stanford) def. [2] Mitch Stewart (Washington) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4

For the second year in a row San Francisco won the Northwest Region doubles title as seniors Nils Skajaa and Vasco Valverde took it to Stanford’s Nolan Paige and Maciek Romanowicz by a 6-2, 6-2 score in the finals.  Last year Skajaa teamed with Bernardo Saraiva to bring home the gold.

Comments from USF recap
“Nils and Vasco showed impressive consistency and toughness mentally throughout the entire regional over tough competition,” said head mens tennis coach Pablo Pires de Almeida. “Their level of tennis improved with every match and they earned the victory handling the moment with great poise.”

Doubles Championship 
[2] Nils Skajaa/Vasco Valverde (San Fran) def. [4] Nolan Paige/Maciek Romanowicz (Stanford) 6-2, 6-2

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Northeast (New Haven, CT) – (Singles Draw) – Both of Columbia’s Pham brothers will be playing for titles on Tuesday as Victor (13.91) will meet Dartmouth’s Dovydas Sakinis (13.80) in the singles final while Richard will team with Shawn Hadavi to face Dartmouth’s Diego Pedraza and Roko Glasnovic.

Victor Pham and Dovydas Sakinis took different paths to reach the final with Pham winning both his quarterfinal and semifinal matches in straight sets while Sakinis had to come back from a set down in each.

Quarterfinals 
[1] Dovydas Sakinis (Dartmouth) def. [17] Eric Rubin (Columbia) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
[9] Kyle Mautner (Penn) def. [17] Diego Vives (Princeton) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
[5] Victor Pham (Columbia) def. [17] Colin Sinclair (Cornell) 6-4, 7-5
[2] David Volfson (Cornell) def. [9] Shawn Hadavi (Columbia) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4

Semifinals 
[1] Dovydas Sakinis (Dartmouth) def. [9] Kyle Mautner (Penn) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
[5] Victor Pham (Columbia) def. [2] David Volfson (Cornell) 6-2, 6-1

Championship (Tuesday 9am est) – Streaming Video & Live Scoring 
[1] Dovydas Sakinis (Dartmouth) vs. [5] Victor Pham (Columbia)

Doubles Semifinals 
[5] Richard Pham/Shawn Hadavi (Columbia) def. [5] Colin Sinclair/David Volfson (Cornell) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0(6)
Diego Pedraza/Roko Glasnovic (Dartmouth) def. Alex Day/Luke Gamble (Princeton) 7-5, 7-5

Doubles Championship (Tuesday 9am est) – Streaming Video & Live Scoring 
[5] Richard Pham/Shawn Hadavi (Columbia) vs. Diego Pedraza/Roko Glasnovic (Dartmouth)

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Texas (Houston, TX) – Draws – SMU’s Hunter Johnson (UTR 12.66) continues to impress as he knocked out TCU’s Jerry Lopez (13.70) 6-3, 7-6(4) and Texas Tech’s Hugo Dojas (13.65) 6-3, 7-6(3) to advance to the semifinals.  Johnson’s teammate Nate Lammons (13.43) also moved into the semifinals after he upset Texas A&M’s A.J. Catanzariti (13.68) 7-6, 6-3 and TCU’s Guillermo Nunez (14.38) 6-4, 6-1.

Texas Tech’s Alex Sendegeya (14.10) won a 3-setter over Texas’s Harrison Scott (13.83) and then defeated Texas A&M’s Shane Vinsant (14.04) 7-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.

Texas A&M’s Arthur Rinderknech (14.51) looks to have secured his spot in the National Indoor Intercollegiates after he advanced to the semifinals with straight set wins over Texas Tech’s Tommy Mylnikov and Rice’s Adam Gustafsson. Even if Arthur doesn’t win the regional he should get the at-large bid that goes to the player with the highest UTR among guys that at least made the quarters at a regional.

TCU’s Guillermo Nunez (14.38) was upset in the quarters by SMU’s Lammons (13.43) but Nunez should still get an at-large to the NIICs based off his preseason ranking of #19.

Round of 16 
Hunter Johnson (SMU) def. [28] Jerry Lopez (TCU) 6-3, 7-6(4)
[10] Hugo Dojas (Texas Tech) def. [6] Samm Butler (SMU) 6-3, 6-2
[3] Shane Vinsant (Texas A&M) def. [16] Tommy Bennett (Rice) 4-6, 6-2, 7-5
[8] Alex Sendegeya (Texas Tech) def. [23] Harrison Scott (Texas) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
[20] Adam Gustafsson (Rice) def. [7] Jolan Cailleau (Texas Tech) 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 6-2
[4] Arthur Rinderknech (Texas A&M) def. [11] Tommy Mylnikov (Texas Tech) 6-2, 7-6(3)
[15] Nate Lammons (SMU) def. [5] A.J. Catanzariti (Texas A&M) 7-6(7), 6-3
[2] Guillermo Nunez (TCU) def. [25] Jacob Hansen (Rice) 6-4, 5-7, 7-5

Quarterfinals (Monday)
Hunter Johnson (SMU) def. [10] Hugo Dojas (Texas Tech) 6-3, 7-6(3)
[8] Alex Sendegeya (Texas Tech) def. [3] Shane Vinsant (Texas A&M) 7-6(5), 6-4
[4] Arthur Rinderknech (Texas A&M) def. [20] Adam Gustafsson (Rice) 6-4, 6-3
[15] Nate Lammons (SMU) def. [2] Guillermo Nunez (TCU) 6-4, 6-1

Semifinals (Tuesday – after doubles semis)
[8] Alex Sendegeya (Texas Tech) vs. Hunter Johnson (SMU)
[4] Arthur Rinderknech (Texas A&M) vs. [15] Nate Lammons (SMU)

Doubles Semifinals (Tuesday 10am cst)
Dojas/Soares (Texas Tech) vs. Johnson/Johnson (SMU)
Sendegeya/Mylnikov (Texas Tech) vs. Vinsant/Rinderknech (aTm)