By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A quartet of Golden Eagles represented the Tennessee Tech tennis team in the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships in Louisville, with all four TTU competitors earning at least one victory in singles or doubles action.
Mika Berghaus helped pace the Tech attack with a pair of wins in the singles Main Draw to advance the Round of 32, the lone Golden Eagle to secure a victory in the solo Main Draw. Berghaus opened his run with a straight-set 6-1, 6-4 nod over Lipscomb's Carlos Salas Tulla in the Round of 128, before the Cologne, Germany product wrestled home a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 triumph over Dayton's Ronit Hiryur in the Round of 64.
In the Round of 32, Berghaus was upended by Vanderbilt's Jeremie Casabon by a 6-2, 6-4 margin to conclude his stay in Louisville.
Carlos Vicente and Jaime Paquet found success in the singles consolation bracket after each Golden Eagle was tripped up in the Main Draw's Round of 128. Vicente was downed 6-1, 6-2 by Indiana's Ekansh Kumar, but managed to make it all the way the consolation Round of 16 behind a 6-0, 6-2 win against Eastern Kentucky's Zachary White in the Round of 64, which was followed up with another win over a Colonel in the form of Julappagari Anurag Reddy in the Round of 32. Vicente ultimately fell in the Round of 16 to Chattanooga's Kerim Hyatt by a 6-3, 3-6, 10-8 decision.
As far as Paquet is concerned, the TTU rookie out of Gijon, Spain initially dropped his Round of 128 Main Draw tangle, 6-3, 6-0, to Conor Gannon out of Memphis, but bounced back to the tune of a 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) victory against Belmont's Garbiel Sardo to advance to the consolation Round of 32. In the next stage, Paquet was on the opposite end of a 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 8-10 score to Tennessee State's Jonasz Dziopak to wrap up his consolation run.
Fellow freshman Pol Masafret was unable to card a win during singles play with a 6-2, 2-6, 3-6 loss to Ball State's Vince Orlando in the Round of 128 Main Draw and a defeat to Bellarmine's Vineet Ramesh in the consolation bracket Round of 64 in a clash that had Masafret retire after falling 7-5 in the first set. The Golden Eagle freshman did find success in doubles play, teaming up with Carols Vicente for an 8-6 triumph over Belmont's Gabriel Sardo and Niklas Von Hellens in the Round of 64 Main Draw.
The pair would go on to drop a narrow affair with an 8-6 defeat to Indiana's Luc Boulier and Sam Landau in the Round of 32. Tech's other doubles partnership saw a Mika Berghaus and Jaime Paquet 8-2 loss to Louisville's Matthew Fun and Sergio Hernandez in the Round of 64 Main Draw.
With only one event in the fall remaining, the Golden Eagles will set their sights on the Wake Forest Invitational, slated for Oct. 28-30 in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Photo by Thomas Corhern