Boxers Take Part in the ITA Regional Championships
The Pacific University men's tennis team was well represented at the recent ITA Regional Championships in Portland.
"I thought we had a great weekend and we were able to gain a lot of experience for all of our freshmen and sophomores," said head coach
Pete Yellico.
Three Pacific newcomers won their first round matches before losing in the round of 32.
Riley Boyden (Reno, Nev.) started his college career with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Pim Trouerbach at Lewis & Clark.
Jonathan Chung (San Jose, Calif.) started his Pacific career with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Kincaid Norris of Whitworth. Plus,
Joey Balleweg (Temecula, Calif.) was a 6-1, 6-2 winner over Justin DeMattos of Pacific Lutheran.
Sophomore
Ford Nakagawa (Aiea, Hawaii) began his tournament with an exciting 7-6, 6-7, 11-9 win over Ian Fisher of Whitworth. He dropped a 6-0, 6-2 decision to the third-seeded Ben Krish of Whitman in the round of 32.
Senior
Oscar Wight reached the quarterfinals with a pair of straight-set wins before dropping a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 decision to Adam Rapoport of Whitman.
In doubles, the seventh seeded team of
Oscar Wight and
Sage Katayama reached the semifinals. To reach the semifinals, the duo posted an 8-3 win over a pair of Whitworth in the round of 32 and an 8-2 win over a tandem from Linfield to set up a matchup against the No. 2 seed team from George Fox.
In the matchup against Spencer Watanabe/Alex Namba, who were the defending champions, Wight and Katayma pulled out a 9-7 win to advance to Friday's semifinals. The run for the title ended with an 8-5 loss to the third seeded team of Zach Hewlin/Robert Carter of Whitman.
"With Oscar and Sage taking out the defending champions in a thriller, I think it will help their confidence in the upcoming spring season," said Yellico. "They proved that they can be one of the best teams in the conference and in the region."
Chung and Nakagawa started their tournament with a 9-7 win over a team from Willamette.
"I think the entire team understands just how physical it is to make a deep run in a tournament like this and will use this as their fuel in the offseason to utilize the gym and get stronger," said Yellico. "Overall, it was a great weekend for the entire team and I am proud of how the team as a whole competed over the weekend."
