As tough as it is to overcome an opening round defeat in the main draw, multiple Hoosiers stole the show in the consolation rounds in the ITA Regionals at the University of Tennessee.
Junior Raheel Manji experienced the most success in the main draw, as he got his weekend started off with a victory over in-state rival Purdue. This jump-started a string of three straight victories, however Manji came up short of the semifinals with a three-set loss to David Biosca from East Tennessee State.
Junior Keivon Tabrizi, Senior Stefan Lugonjic and Sophomore Afonso Salgado all enjoyed victories in their first matches, but they were defeated in the second round and were ineligible to compete in the consolation rounds.
Senior Matthew McCoy, sophomore Antonio Cembellin and freshmen Bennett Crane and Oliver Sec stole the show in the consolation rounds.
McCoy advanced to the finals after winning five straights matches in impressive fashion, as he did not drop a single set.
He opened with a win over Tennessee Tech’s Carlos Tajes 7-5, 6-3, and advanced to defeat Butler’s Spencer Lang 6-2, 6-4. After a comfortable victory against Vanderbilt and then a forfeit, McCoy was paired against Vanderbilt's Tate Allwardt.
The result stayed the same and McCoy advanced to the finals with a 6-3, 7-6(4) victory.
Sec and Cembellin experienced much of the same success as McCoy. The two are paired to play each other in the semi-finals. However, the match is scheduled to be played Oct. 30, with the victor scheduled to take on McCoy for the title.
Following a victory against Austin Peay, Sec had to battle through two long three-set matches. Sec defeated Louisville’s Sean Donohue 6-3, 5-7, 12-10, and a Vanderbilt opponent 2-6, 6-3, 13-11.
Cembellin continued the string of Hoosier victories with two victories over Austin Peay and Vanderbilt. He advanced to the semi-final after his opponent forfeited.
Crane defeated Andrew Niehaus of Northern Kentucky 6-4, 6-5. He then faced Tennessee Tech’s Marcos Bernandes 7-5, 7-6(5). He was defeated by Vanderbilt’s Cameron Klinger 2-6, 3-6.
The Hoosiers also had four teams competing in the doubles draw of the tournament. After wins in their opening matches, none were able to advance on to the semifinals.
Lugonjic and Sec defeated a duo out of Eastern Kentucky, which then set them up with another matchup against rival, Purdue. The two won 8-4 and then were defeated by Vanderbilt in the third round.
Crane and Tabrizi defeated Butler and Middle Tennessee State and then were denied of the semifinals, 7-8 by Kentucky.
Manji and Cembellin received a bye in the opening round and then defeated Lipscomb 8-7. They were ousted by a pair out of Memphis, 6-8.
Salgado and Brodney defeated Wright State comfortably, 8-1, before falling to East Tennessee State 4-8.
The Hoosiers return to Bloomington this week to prepare for their trip to Birmingham, Alabama to compete in the ITF Futures tournament.
