By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications, (503) 370-6110

WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Willamette University men's tennis players won five singles matches as the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Northwest Regional got underway on Friday, Sept. 22 at Whitman College. Andrew Kabacy (Grad., Vancouver, WA/Skyview HS) led the way by advancing into the Round of 16 in the "A" singles bracket with a first round bye and a victory in the second round.

Kabacy outlasted Chio of Lewis & Clark College in the second round by winning the second set plus a super tie-breaker instead of a third set. In the end, Kabacy prevailed 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 10-5. He will take on Ebisu from George Fox University in the Round of 16 on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. PDT.

Velibor Mladenovic (So., Belgrade, Serbia/First Belgrade Grammar School) of Willamette also competed in the "A" singles bracket. Wills from Lewis & Clark defeated Mladenovic, 6-0, 6-1. Later on Friday, Mladenovic had to default due to injury in the first round consolation bracket to Kinoshita of Pacific.

In the men's "B" singles bracket, three Bearcats recorded a win. AJ Avansino (So., Reno, NV/Reno HS), seeded #3 in the bracket, received a first round bye and then defeated Goodman of L&C, 6-2, 6-2. Avansino advanced to take on Froslan of Whitworth in the "B" quarterfinals on Saturday at 8 a.m. Quentin Nigbur (Sr., Newberg, OR/Newberg HS), seeded #4, also opened with a bye before defeating Mulhern of Whitworth, 6-0, 6-2. Nigbur will play Weaver of Whitworth at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday in the quarterfinals.

Andrew Kropp (Sr., Bend, OR/Summit HS) prevailed in his first round match in the "B" singles bracket, 6-4, 6-4, over Blixt from the University of Puget Sound. Preacher of Whitworth downed Kropp in the second round, 6-1, 6-1.Trey Allen (Jr., Tucson, AZ/BASIS Tucson North HS) of Willamette defeated Nguyen of Whitworth in a tight contest that included a regular tie-breaker and ended with a super tie-breaker. Allen won, 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 10-8. In the second round, Lanstra from Whitman moved past Allen, 6-1, 6-2. Kropp and Allen will compete in the "B" second round consolation bracket on Saturday.

Also in the "B" bracket, Zack Olander (Fy., Bend, OR/Summit HS) of the Bearcats fell to Dunn of Whitworth in the first round in a close match. Dunn earned the victory, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2). Olander will play in the "B" first round consolation bracket on Saturday.

During the doubles bracket, Kabacy and Mladenovic as well as Nigbur and Olander each received a first round bye. In the second round, Kabacy and Mladenovic had to retire due to Mladenovic's injury. Raffo and Luo of Whitman were leading 5-0 when the match ended. Chopra and Huang of Whitman downed Nigbur and Olander in the second round, 8-3. Also for the Bearcats, Avansino and Kropp lost in the first round of doubles to Buck and Blixt of Puget Sound, 8-1.

Action at the ITA Northwest Regional in men's tennis will continue through Monday, Sept. 25, when the championship matches will be played in the "A" singles bracket and in doubles.