Eagle Men and Women Play in ITA Regionals

Riego de Dios posts three wins for the men, Demerath and Knight defeat OU women's doubles tandem

Complete Men's Draws

Complete Women's Draws

The Eastern Washington University men's tennis team played its middle fall tournament of three this weekend at the ITA Regionals in Berkeley, Calif. Kevin Anderson advanced in the main singles draw to help highlight the weekend for the Eagles.

In the singles Round of 128, Anderson eliminated Sacramento State's Nathan Wells by 6-2, 6-3 scores to advance to the Round of 64.

Nico Riego de Dios had some impressive results in the consolation bracket, most impressively defeating Oregon's Sho Higuchi 6-3, 6-2. He also earned wins over opponents from San Francisco and Saint Mary's.

Stefan Simikic had a pair of victories in the consolation bracket, defeating opponents from Sacramento State and Saint Mary's, while Chad Henninger outlasted Sacramento State's Holden Ching in one of the most exciting matches of the weekend, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), (10-7).

In doubles, EWU's highlight came courtesy of Julian Sanchez and Riego de Dios, as the two defeated UC Davis' Chris Aria and Connor Coates by an 8-4 score.

Cumulatively, the Eagles went 7-11 in singles play and 1-5 in doubles contests at the premier event.

"Every match was tough this weekend, but it was a great experience for the team," head coach Darren Haworth said.

The Eagles will wrap up the fall portion of their schedule at the PNW Intercollegiates in Seattle, Wash., from Nov. 6-8.

The Eastern Washington University women's tennis team wrapped up the fall portion of its 2009-10 schedule with some strong performances at the ITA Regionals in Stanford, Calif., over the weekend.

"Overall, we played well, won some big matches and most of the matches we lost were fairly tight," associate head women's coach Dale Silha said.

Marie Demerath, Chelsea Patton and Caitlin Bampton each advanced to the Round of 16 in the consolation draw before heading home, as matches in that round were not contested.

Demerath defeated San Jose State's Olivia Marshall 6-3, 2-3 (retired), Patton won 7-6, 6-3 over UC Davis' Ellie Edles, while Bampton knocked off California's Catalina Visico, 6-1, 7-5.

Two EWU doubles teams advanced to the Round of 32 in the main draw. Demerath and Kelsey Knight teamed up to knock off Siobhan Cavan and Mahdi Besovic of Oregon by an 8-3 score, while Bampton and Patton advanced via a bye.

The team went a combined 3-10 in singles play and 2-3 in doubles versus top-notch competition. Eastern also went 2-2 in singles play in four exhibition matches that were played on Sunday (Oct. 25) with Knight and Ryann Warner picking up wins.

The Eagles will next be in action when the dual-match portion of the schedule starts in 2010. The team's first match will likely take place at some point in January.