Contact: Drew Sauer, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (Oct. 6, 2019) – The North Central College men's tennis team wrapped up the shortened fall season at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Regionals hosted by Kalamazoo College, sending four players to Stowe Stadium with the doubles team advancing to the round of 16.
 
After receiving an opening round bye, Andy Hinch and Colten Way scored a 8-5 victory over Jacob Dennen and Vlad Rotnov of Denison University (Ohio) in the round of 32.
 
One of just 16 doubles team left standing, Hinch and Way met their match in Kenyon College's (Ohio) Austin Diehl and Jake Zalenski in a tightly contested 8-6 defeat to eliminate the Cardinal duo.
 
Moving on to singles play, Guillermo Gonzalez Fernandez scored a hard fought opening round win over Joaquin Abos of the College of Wooster (Ohio), clawing out a 7-5 win in the first set before coming back from a 5-2 deficit to steal away the match 7-5.
 
Gonzalez Fernandez carried that momentum into the second round against Greenville University's (Illinois) Robert Blume, scoring a 6-2 opening set victory.  Blume rebounded to take the second set 6-4, but Gonzalez Fernandez regained composure to easily take the final set 6-1.
 
Advancing to the round of 32, Gonzalez Fernandez ran into ninth-seeded Timothy Cianciola of Denison where his tournament run came to an end in the form of a 6-3, 6-2 defeat.
 
Also competing in singles play for North Central was Javier Suarez Balsera who dropped his opening round match 6-0, 6-2 at the hands of Ben van der Sman of Washington University in St. Louis (Missouri).
 
Despite the opening round loss, Suarez Balsera made a run in the consolation bracket, mounting a comeback win over Denison's Dennen, coming back from a 6-1 first set loss to score a 7-5, 10-8 victory and keep his tournament hopes alive.
 
In the third round of the consolation bracket, Suarez Balsera cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 win over Lake Forest College's Jacob Tilton, before following with a straight-set 6-3, 6-4 victory over Gustavo Garcia of John Carroll University (Ohio).
 
Suarez Balsera's tournament run finally came to an end in the quarterfinals of the consolation bracket, suffering a 6-3, 6-0 loss to Kenyon's Luis Andres Platas.
 
The Cardinals will begin the spring season on Saturday, Feb. 1, hosting a non-conference triangular with Wartburg College (Iowa) and Milwaukee School of Engineering at Five Star Tennis in Plainfield, Ill.