Men's Tennis 9/20/2024 10:15:00 PM Kyle Jones

Four Gorloks Compete At ITA Regional Championships

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Four student-athletes on the Webster University men's tennis team opened tournament play at the 2024 Division III ITA Regional Championships hosted by Washington University at Dwight Davis Tennis Center on Friday.

The central region that is associated with the ITA ranges from the states of Kansas to the western portions of Pennsylvania. With a field of over 150 student-athletes from all over the world, this all-day event began with doubles competitions in the morning.

The first match of the day featured the No. 1 doubles team of Matthew Birchmeier and Ethan Foucheaux against second-ranked Case Western Reserve University and their No. 2 doubles team of Casey Hishinuma and Ajay Mahenthiran.

In this match, Birchmeier and Foucheaux battled against their very strong opponents and were able to capture one set but ultimately dropped the match by the score of 1-8. With the loss, the duo moved to the consolation bracket.

In the consolation doubles bracket, Birchmeier and Foucheaux faced off against an SLIAC opponent doubles team from Principia College that included Ernesto Botero Diaz and Alvaro Martin Moliz. The Gorloks got off to a strong start and took the opening set. Both team battled back and forth as Webster finished the match strong and earned a 8-6 victory. With the victory, Birchmeier and Foucheaux will advance to the round of 32 which will be played tomorrow morning.

The second doubles match of the day included the team of Carson Fisher and Eli Bartek as they faced off against Jacob Patterson and Andreas Chapides of Denison University. Fisher and Bartek faced a very solid team and secured two set victories but took a 2-8 defeat. With the loss, Bartek and Fisher move to the consolation play.

Bartek and Fisher played their elimination match against the team of Ian Turnbull and Benjamin Vigneri of Illinois Wesleyan University. Bartek and Fisher battled hard and captured four set victories but dropped the match by the score of 4-8.

Once the field of 16 doubles teams was set, the afternoon was all singles play as Foucheaux and Fisher competed for Webster.

Foucheaux opened singles play with a draw against Will Cramer of DePauw University. This match started off back and forth as both student-athletes displayed fantastic shots for points. Foucheaux captured two set-victories in the first set and three-set victories in the second set but fell to Cramer in straight sets by the scores of 2-6 and 3-6.

Following that match, WU's Fisher faced off against Bernado Aguiar of Lake Forest College. Fisher earned three set-victories in the second set but dropped the match in straight sets.

This group of Webster student-athletes will conclude tournament play on Saturday, September 21 with consolation matches starting at 8:00 AM in St. Louis, Missouri.

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Players Mentioned

Matthew Birchmeier: 5' 10"; Senior

Carson Fisher: 6' 4"; Junior

Ethan Foucheaux: Freshman

Eli Bartek: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Matthew Birchmeier
: 5' 10"; Senior

Carson Fisher
: 6' 4"; Junior

Ethan Foucheaux
: Freshman

Eli Bartek
: Freshman