Numerous Zags Advance on Day 1 at EWU Fall Classic
9/27/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
CHENEY, Wash.—The Gonzaga University men's tennis team saw a strong start to its season Friday as five singles and two doubles pairings won matches during the first few rounds of the EWU Fall Classic, held at the Eastern Washington Tennis Courts in Cheney, Wash.
"The guys had a lot of challenging matches," said Gonzaga men's tennis head coach Peter MacDonald," but they fought hard to pick up some good wins today."
All four Bulldogs in the ‘A' flight tallied at least one victory Friday. Overall No. 1 seed Alvaro Nazal advanced to the quarterfinals with a straight-set win over Jackson Varney of Idaho. Nazal won 6-2, 6-1 in his first competitive match in nearly a year.
Second-seeded Nick Kamisar also won his only match of the day as well, taking down Idaho's Odon Barta 6-4, 6-2. He's also in the quarterfinals and will take on Sonam Phuntsok of Lewis-Clark State for a spot in the semi-finals.
Joining Nazal and Kamisar in the quarterfinals is Vladimir Mijatovic. Mijatovic beat Andres Bustani of Lewis-Clark State College 7-5, 6-2 in the first round and upset fourth-seeded Cristobal Ramos of Idaho in the second round. He beat Ramos 6-1, 5-7, 6-1 in that contest. The Serbian will face Seattle U's Will Topp in the quarterfinals.
Vicente Varas also won his first-round match, taking out Idaho's Andrew Zedde 6-0, 6-2. He ran into third-seeded Robert Dula of Eastern Washington in the second round, though, and fell 7-6(6), 6-4. Varas will now enter the 'A' flight consolation bracket.
Making his Gonzaga debut, top-seeded Sergio Chip advanced in the tournament's ‘B' flight with a three-set victory over Idaho's Rhys Richardson. Chip won the first and last sets to face Lewis-Clark State's Yen Tong Chin in the flight's quarterfinals.
Joey Brandt also competed in the ‘B' flight, falling to Anthony Croteau of Lewis-Clark State in straight sets.
Gonzaga doubles squads also saw success on day one as two of the three advanced to the Doubles bracket's semifinals. Those two, the teams of Mijatovic/Brandt and Nazal/Kamisar, will actually compete against each other for the right to go to the championship match. Mijatovic/Brandt, the No. 1 seed, beat Seattle U's team of Ian Clare and Tanner Berkabile in the second round and Eastern Washington's Luke Ness and Luke Thompson in the third.
Nazal/Kamisar took down Idaho's duo of Cristobal Ramos and Felipe Fonseca and upset fourth-seeded Will Topp and John Stomans of Seattle U to reach the semifinal against their teammates.
Also competing in the doubles tournament, the Zags' team of Chip and Vargas fell to second-seeded Mark Kovacs and Odon Barta of Idaho.
The EWU Fall Classic continues Saturday, Sept. 27. Varas will begin the day for Gonzaga, taking on Lewis-Clark State's Quentin Wacquez at 9:00 a.m. in the Flight ‘A' consolation bracket, again at the EWU Tennis Courts.
