Marion, Ind. - Last week, the Marian men's tennis team completed their fall portion of the 2022-2023 season by competing in the annual ITA Regional Tournament, hosted by Indiana Wesleyan. The Knights had several wins throughout the four days of play, and had strong success from their doubles players.
SINGLES MAIN DRAW
In the main draw for singles, Mark Griffin had the best overall record, as he went 2-1 and advanced to the round of 16. Griffin collected a three-set win in his opening match, and was 2-0 on the opening day, but fell to Francisco Perez of Oakland City on Thursday's opening matches. Andrew Ilett, Jona Henze, and Dmitrii Voshchenkov all went 1-1 in the main draw of singles, with each Knight winning their first match of the week on Wednesday before dropping in the round of 32. Jones McNamar and Ashwin Bhat were not as successful in the main draw, losing in their first match before taking their second defeat in the consolation bracket.
SINGLES B DRAW
In the B draw for singles, Marian had four players compile winning records, with Shadi Al Tori taking the top record as he went 3-1, reaching the semifinals. Al Tori received an opening round bye and advanced through to the semis with relative ease, winning each of his matches 8-3. In the semifinals, Al Tori would bow out in a tough fight to Goshen's Mario Gomez, who won the match 9-8 (6). Gomez would go on to be the B draw champion.
Armando Lopez went 2-1 in the B draw before having to retire to the aforementioned Gomez in the quarterfinals, leaving the match tied 5-5. Max Sternberg and Jacob Wittenbaum each went 2-1 as well, reaching the round of 16. Isaac Lian and Jake Giles each went 1-1 in their singles play, while Gavin Dardeen went 0-2. Austin Kuklak lost his first match, but picked up a win in the consolation bracket as he went 1-2 overall in singles.
DOUBLES MAIN DRAW
Marian entered three doubles pairs into the main draw of the doubles tournament, and found their best success from their two All-Crossroads League players Mark Griffin and Andrew Ilett. The pair of Knights started strong as they earned an 8-4 win on Wednesday, and advanced to the quarterfinals after collecting their second 8-4 win on Thursday morning. The duo were again victorious in the quarterfinals as they defeated UNOH's top pair 8-5, but their run came short as Isaac Steiner and Trey Thixton of Indiana Wesleyan defeated Marian's pair 8-6 in the semifinals. The Knights No. 1 doubles pair finished with a 3-1 record.
Marian's other two doubles pairs in the main draw each grabbed a win, as Shadi Al Tori and Ashwin Bhat won their first match before getting eliminated in the round of 16 to go 1-1. Armando Lopez and Jacob Wittenbaum lost their first match, but were able to pick up a win in the consolation bracket as they finished 1-2 overall.
DOUBLES B DRAW
In the B draw for doubles, Marian's best record came from Isaac Lian and Austin Kuklak, as the duo went 4-1 en route to winning the consolation championship. After dropping their first match, Kuklak and Lian won both of their first two consolation matches by 8-5 and 8-1 scores. A win by default over teammates Gavin Dardeen and Dmitrii Voshchenkov advanced the pair to the championship round, where they came out with an 8-3 win over the team from Lourdes.
Each of Marian's other three doubles teams in the B draw recorded at least one win, with Jona Henze/Jones McNamar going 1-1, Jake Giles/Max Sternberg going 1-1, and Dardeen/Voshchenkov going 1-2.
Marian will return to competition in the spring season, as they will attempt to play their way to earn an at-large to the NAIA National Tournament.
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