Zags Play Strong Singles on Day One of PNW Intercollegiates
11/8/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
KIRKLAND, Wash.—The Gonzaga University men's tennis squad kicked off the PNW Intercollegiates Friday on a strong note as all six Zags in the singles competition advanced to the semifinals of their selected flights at the Central Park Tennis Club in Kirkland, Wash.
Topping the draw for the Zags, Alvaro Nazal advanced in Flight 1 with a three-set victory over Will Topp of Seattle U. Nazal, seeded second in the flight, dropped the first set 3-6 but fought back in the next two for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory. In the second singles flight, Nick Kamisar needed just two sets to defeat his opponent, beating Portland State's Stuart Tierney 6-2, 6-2. He'll face Steffen Dierauf, the bracket's top seed, in the semifinal on Saturday.
In Flight 3, Sergio Chip continued his strong play, beating Wacil Bendelti 6-2, 6-4. The win was Chips' sixth in a row after he captured a bracket title at the GU Fall Tournament Oct. 24-26. Making his season debut, Hayden Smith also tallied a victory Friday by beating Washington's Wendell Watanabe in straight 6-4 sets.
Vladimir Mijatovic bounced back from an illness that sidelined him through most of the GU Fall Tournament, ceding only five games en route to a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Eastern Washington's Rendell Burghart in Flight 5. Rounding out the Zags' singles draws, Vicente Varas reached the semifinals of Flight 6 with a 6-2, 7-5 win over West Coast Conference foe Ethan Ogard of Portland.
Chip and Varas also played strong in doubles play, teaming up to sweep Portland State's Nate Chart and Nacor Ibanez 8-0 in the second doubles flight. The win was the duo's fourth of the fall season.
The Zag pairs in the first flight weren't so lucky, however, as the teams of Nazal/Kamisar and Mijatovic/Smith both fell in round one. Nazal and Kamisar, the bracket's third seed, were upset by the Vikings' Ian Risenhoover and Brent Wheeler by a score of 8-6, just the Zags' second loss of the season. Mijatovic and Smith, playing in their first match together of the year, fell 8-3 to Portland's Dierauf and Reid deLaubenfels.
Gonzaga continues play at the PNW Intercollegiates Saturday, Nov. 8. Chip and Varas will begin the day with their Flight 2 doubles semifinal at 8:45 a.m. while singles play will get underway an hour later at 9:45, again at Central Park Tennis Center.
