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ITA Central Region Main Draw (Singles)
ITA Central Region Main Draw (Doubles)
Kalamazoo Collegiate Championships (Singles)
Kalamazoo Collegiate Championships (Doubles)
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (Sept. 27, 2010)-- Sam Sweeney bested a field of 128 players to capture the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Central Region Singles Championship on Monday as the North Central College men's tennis team competed at the four-day event hosted by Kalamazoo College.
Sweeney (7-0), ranked 13th nationally in singles by the ITA, opened the tournament on Friday by posting a, 6-0, 6-2, victory over Kenyon College's (Ohio) Austin Griffin. The senior posted a convincing, 6-0, 6-1, win in the second round over College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin rival Stephan Rauh of Wheaton College before rolling past Juan Guerra of Denison College (Ohio), 6-3, 6-4, to advance to the round of 16.
Sweeney, the tournament's top seeded player, faced 11th-seeded Adam Putterman of Washington University in Saint Louis in the fourth round, emerging with a, 6-4, 6-3, victory. Sweeney breezed past the University of Chicago's Alex Golovin, 6-1, 6-0, in the quarterfinals before disposing Wash U's Max Woods, 6-4, 7-6(4), in the semifinals on Sunday.
In the finals, Sweeney faced Wash U's Isaac Stein, ranked 14th nationally by the ITA and the tournament's No. 2 seed. Sweeney emerged as the winner on Monday morning, defeating Stein, 6-3, 6-3, to secure the Central Region Championship.
With the victory, Sweeney secures a bid to the United States Tennis Association/ITA National Small College Championships held on Oct. 14-17 in Mobile, Ala. at the Copeland-Cox Tennis Center.
Matt Boguslawski (2-1) advanced to the round of 32 in the ITA main draw, winning, 6-4, 6-4, and, 7-6(5), 6-3, in the opening two rounds before falling, 6-1, 6-0, to 17th-seeded C.J. Williams of Kenyon.
In doubles, Sweeney and Boguslawski captured the consolation championship of the main draw after dropping their opening match, 9-7, to Case Western Reserve University's (Ohio) Rohan Patel and Paul Smetona. The tandem (5-1) rallied in the consolation bracket with a pair of 8-0 victories over team's from Hope College (Mich.) and Earlham College (Ohio) in the opening two rounds before edging Kenyon's Paul Burgin and Jeremy Polster, 8-6, to advance to the semifinals. Sweeney and Boguslawski topped Allegheny College's (Pa.) Max Hennessy and Uros Predic, 8-1, before claiming the championship in a walkover against Ohio Northern University's Joe Frank and Mike Kathary.
In the Kalamazoo Collegiate Championships bracket,
Naveed Heydari suffered a, 6-2, 7-6(0), defeat in the opening round before rebounding to win the consolation championship.
Heydari (7-1) defeated Calvin College's (Mich.) Jon Spoelhof, 6-4, 6-3, before earning a second round bye. In the third round, the sophomore needed to rally from an opening set defeat to down Albion College's (Mich.) Tucker Blake, 3-6, 6-3, 10-4, before cruising by John Murray of Capital University (Ohio), 6-0, 6-2, to advance to the quarterfinals. Heydari topped Hanover College's (Ind.) Peter Tratt, 7-6(0), 3-6, 10-6, in the quarterfinals and slipped by Wabash College's (Ind.) Phillip Kubisz, 6-3, 2-6, 10-6, in the semifinals before winning by walkover against Albion College's (Mich.) Billy Sessions in the finals.