Kabacy Wins in Round of 16 before Falling in Quarterfinals at ITA Regional

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

VANCOUVER, Wash. -- Willamette University men's tennis player Andrew Kabacy (Grad., Vancouver, WA/Skyview HS) won his Round of 16 match before losing in the quarterfinals of the "A" singles bracket, at the ITA Northwest Regional on Saturday, Oct. 1 at the Vancouver Tennis Center. The tournament, hosted by Lewis & Clark College concluded on Sunday, Oct. 2.

Kabacy, playing in his hometown, defeated Diego Guzman from Whitman College in the Round of 16 by winning the first set in a tie-breaker before cruising through the second set, 7-6 (7-2), 6-0. Kabacy, one of four players seeded #5 through #8, fell to #4-seeded Camden Camacho of George Fox University, 6-4, 6-4, in the quarterfinals.

In the first round of the "A" singles consolation bracket, Velibor Mladenovic (Fy., Belgrade, Serbia) of Willamette lost to Braden Sawyer from the University of Puget Sound in a super tie-breaker played instead of a third set, 6-4, 2-6, 10-3.

Three Bearcats competed in the "B" qualifying singles consolation bracket on Saturday. Jake Freeland (Fy., Beaverton, OR/Southridge HS) downed Daisuke Fitial from Linfield University, 6-3, 6-1, in the first round. Garrett Thornhill (Fy., Bandon, OR/Mountainside HS) was defeated by Wyatt Zagyva of Linfield in the second round, 6-2, 6-1. Andre Lief (So., Anchorage, AK/West Anchorage HS) met Freeland in another second round match, with Lief prevailing 6-3, 6-0.

On Sunday, Lief lost to Zagyva in the "B" qualifying singles consolation final, 7-5, 6-2.

The "B" singles bracket schedule on Saturday included two Willamette players competing in the Round of 16. Quentin Nigbur (Sr., Newberg, OR/Newberg HS), one of four competitors seeded #5 through #8, fell to Rene Del Barco from Puget Sound, 7-5, 6-1. Luca Casano (Fy., Honolulu, HI/Punahou School) lost to #2-seeded Charlie Rush of Whitman, 6-1, 6-1.

In the second round "B" singles consolation bracket, Nigbur was defeated by Connor Blakeney from Puget Sound, 6-2, 6-3, and Casano fell to Nick Gabelman, 6-3, 6-1.

Andrew Kropp (Sr., Bend, OR/Summit HS) and Trey Allen (So., Tucson, AZ/BASIS Tucson North HS) competed in the first round of the "B" singles consolation bracket on Saturday. Kropp played a close first set against Gunnar Woller of Whitman before losing 6-4, 6-1. Allen moved past Jordan Cousineau of Pacific University, 6-4, 6-4, in the first round, but was defeated by Dillon Wells from Pacific Lutheran in the second round, 6-2, 7-5.

Sunday's action concluded with the "A" Singles Championship and the "A" Doubles Championship. Top-seeded Rox Rogers from George Fox defeated #3-seeded Austin Stone of GFU, 5-7, 6-0, 6-1 to win the singles title. In the doubles title match, #3-seeded Lars Schmassmann and Rogers of GFU downed #4-seeded Hunter Fujimori and Stone, also from GFU, 8-3. Rogers in singles and Schmassmann and Rogers in doubles qualified for the ITA Cup.