SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s tennis team hosted the ITA Division III Midwest Regional Championship over the weekend, and had a number of notable performances, advancing athletes to both the singles and doubles championships.
Marco Siviero (So., Sao Miguel de Oeste, Brazil), seeded No. 7 in the region, led the Gusties through the singles tournament, defeating No. 2 seed Tarm Rojanasoonthon of Carleton to advance to the singles finals to take place on Monday. Siviero will face Luke Westholder of Luther. Westholder, who put an end to Jack Bergmeyer’s (Sr., Lincoln, Neb.) run in semifinals and Justin Sehlin’s (Sr., Bettendorf, Iowa) in quarterfinals, entered the tournament as the 14 seed.
Including Siviero, Bergmeyer, and Sehlin, both Tyler Haddorff (Fy., Burnsville) and Taona Mhwandagara (So., Harare, Zimbabwe) advanced to quarterfinals, marking five Gustie athletes in the pool of eight. Haddorff fell to teammate Bergmeyer, while Mhwandagara fell to Siviero.
It was the doubles draws where the Gusties would shine most, as ten Gustavus tandems competed in the field of 64, with nine pairs winning their first-round match and three pairs advancing to the semifinals.
In the semifinals, the pair of Sourabh Terakanambi (Sr., Apple Valley) and Siviero put up a fight against No. 1 seed John Zakowski and Luke Van Donslear of UW-Whitewater, before falling 8-6 in the semifinal set. Drew Elofson (Sr., Saint Peter) and Gage Gohl (Fy., Sioux Falls, S.D) battled teammates Alex Budde (Sr., Menomonee Falls, Wis.) and Daniel Fouchier (Sr., Nootdorp, Netherlands), defeating the No. 2 seeded pair to advance to the finals.
Siviero and Westholder will face each other in the singles championship, while Elofson and Gohl will take on Zakowski and Van Donslear for the doubles final.