ACU Advances One in WAC Fall Invitational

WAC Fall Invitational
Friday, Oct. 25 - Sunday, Oct. 27
Abilene, TX | Eager Tennis Center

Day 2 Live Stats - Men / Women | Day 3 Live Stats - Men / Women | Schedule & Brackets | WAC Tournament Homepage


ABILENE - The first-ever Western Athletic Conference Fall Invitational kicked off Friday morning at ACU's Eager Tennis Center. 

The fields, comprised of 15 women and 12 men from conference programs, were whittled down to the semifinal rounds of singles and doubles for each gender.

Round one of men's singles started the morning. ACU's Daniel Morozov took down Jun Sasagawa from Seattle U in straight sets - 6-3, 6-3.

"I told him early on it was going to be about him staying professional, and not worrying about [his opponent] was doing," said Juan Nunez, ACU's head men's tennis coach. "He did it for 98% of the match. His experience showed and this is probably the most mature we've seen him. He's on a mission to finish his college career the right way."

Morovoz advances to the semifinal to face no. 6 seed Andres Medus of UT Arlington on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Wildcat Martin Delnido dug an early 5-1 hole in the first set, but fought back to win three straight games. Grand Canyon's Nikita Volonski, the bracket's no. 1 seed, was too much, though, winning 6-4, 6-4.

"[Martin] didn't seem as comfortable early on," said Nunez. "He got started late on both sets. He still fought, and that's one thing he'll always do. He's going to battle and try to make it a match. He's not going to go out without a fight. I think against a player as good as his opponent today, you can't give him that much of a lead."

ACU's men's doubles team of Morovoz and Ethan Scribner plays its first match of the invitational Saturday at 9 a.m.

"Every court is going to be a battle," said Nunez. "You don't have a bad player in this tournament. It's going to come down to two or three points. Hopefully it goes our way."

In women's singles, ACU's Masha Vrsalovic fired back to win her second set and tie the match, but was unable to slow down Utah Tech's Mariana Zurita Berdecio in the deciding third set. Vrsalovic was eliminated in the first round by a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 score.

Olivia Sears earned a bye into the quarterfinals and battled in three sets with Noelia Lorca from Tarleton State. After losing the opening frame 6-0, Sears took the second set 7-5 to force a third set where Lorca came away with the victory, 6-4.

ACU's women's doubles pair of Vrsalovic and Alice Klinteby won the first set over Grand Canyon, but dropped the second set and the succeeding tiebreaker to lose 3-6, 6-3, (10-8).

Semifinal matches for all divisions will take place on Saturday. The doubles championship matches for the men and women will be held Sunday at 9 a.m. with the singles championships to follow at noon.

The champions from each draw advance to the ITA Conference Masters on Nov. 7-10 in Rome, Georgia. Out of a field of 32 singles players and 32 doubles teams per gender, four players will qualify for the NCAA Singles Championship (semifinalists). Three doubles teams will qualify for the NCAA Doubles Championship (champion, finalist, and third place).

The NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships is Nov. 19-24 at Baylor's Hurd Tennis Center in Waco.

Friday, Oct. 25

Men's Singles

Quarterfinals

Match 1: No. 1 Nikita Volonski (GCU) defeats No. 8 Martin Delnido (ACU): 6-4, 6-4
Match 2: No. 4 Pedro Sasso (UTA) vs. No. 5 Andres Loizas (GCU): 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
Match 3: No. 2 Daniel Morozov (ACU) defeats No. 7 Jun Sasagawa (Seattle U): 6-3, 6-3
Match 4: No. 6 Andres Medus (UTA) defeats No. 3 Filip Stipic (Seattle U): 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
 

Women's Singles

Round 1

Match 1: No. 8 Gala Arangio (GCU) defeats No. 9 Liliya Dimova (Seattle U): 6-2, 6-0
Match 2: No. 5 Noelia Lorca (Tarleton State) defeats No. 12 Adela Latalova (UTA): 6-2, 6-3
Match 3: No. 6 Dania Deaifi (GCU) defeats No. 11 Ana Gutierrez Sampere (Utah Tech): 6-1, 6-3
Match 4: No. 10 Mariana Zurita Berdecio (Utah Tech) defeats No. 7 Masha Vrsalovic (ACU): 7-5, 3-6, 6-2

Quarterfinals

Match 5: No. 1 Lamija Avdic (Seattle U) defeats No. 8 Gala Arangio (GCU): 6-3, 6-2
Match 6: No. 5 Noelia Lorca (Tarleton State) defeats No. 4 Olivia Sears (ACU): 6-0, 5-7, 6-4
Match 7: No. 3 Emma Persson (Tarleton State) defeats No. 6 Dania Deaifi (GCU): 2-6, 6-1, 7-5
Match 8: No. 2 Ana Paula Jimenez (UTA) defeats No. 10 Mariana Zurita Berdecio (Utah Tech): 6-3, 6-2
 

Women's Doubles

Quarterfinals

Match 1: No. 5 GCU (Gala Arangio/Dania Deaifi) defeats No. 4 ACU (Alice Klinteby/Masha Vrsalovic): 3-6, 6-3, (10-8)
Match 2: No. 3 Seattle U (Lamija Avdic/Liliya Dimova) defeats No. 6 Utah Tech (Ana Gutierrez Sampere/Mariana Zurita Berdecio): 6-3, 6-2

 

Saturday, Oct. 26

Men's Doubles

Semifinals
Match 1: No. 1 ACU (Daniel Morozov/Ethan Scribner) vs. No. 4 UTA (Yazid Lahjomri/Pedro Sasso) - 9 a.m. CT
Match 2: No. 2 GCU (Brice Patoux/David Wekesa) vs. No. 3 Seattle U (Jun Sasagawa/Filip Stipic) - 9 a.m. CT
 

Men's Singles

Semifinals
Match 5: No. 1 Nikita Volonski (GCU)  vs. No. 4 Pedro Sasso (UTA) - 1 p.m. CT
Match 6: No. 2 Daniel Morozov (ACU) vs. No. 6 Andres Medus (UTA) - 1 p.m. CT

Women's Doubles

Semifinals
Match 3: No. 1 Tarleton State (Ximena Morales/Emma Persson) vs. No. 5 GCU (Gala Arangio/Dania Deaifi) - 9 a.m. CT
Match 4: No. 2 UTA (Valeriia Ivanovskaia/Ana Paula Jimenez) vs. No. 3 Seattle U (Lamija Avdic/Liliya Dimova) - 9 a.m. CT

Women's Singles

Semifinals
Match 9: No. 1 Lamija Avdic (Seattle U) vs. No. 5 Noelia Lorca (Tarleton State) - 1 p.m. CT
Match 10: No. 3 Emma Persson (Tarleton State) vs. No. 2 Ana Paula Jimenez (UTA) - 1 p.m. CT
 

Sunday, Oct. 27

Men's Doubles

Championship
Match 3: Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2 - 9 a.m. CT

Women's Doubles

Championship
Match 5: Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4 - 9 a.m. CT

Men's Singles

Championship
Match 7: Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6 - Noon CT

Women's Singles

Championship
Match 11: Winner Match 9 vs. Winner Match 10 - Noon CT