Casique and Herrera secure trip to ITA Cup for Thresher tennis, winning regional championship
Casique and Herrera secure trip to ITA Cup for Thresher tennis, winning regional championship
The Bethel tennis team took on the ITA regional tournament over the weekend, with the doubles duo securing their spot in the national individual doubles tournament
SALINA — The men’s and women’s tennis teams went to Salina this past weekend to compete in the ITA Regional Tournament for a chance to qualify for the individual national tournament, the ITA Cup.
On the men’s side for singles, Rodrigo Sanchez lost 6-2, 1-6, 6-10 in a close match and Petr Kollar, 1-6, 3-6, lost in the first round. Jorge Batista and Billy Haoda both won their first round match ups but fell in the round of 32 to some tough competition.
In doubles, Batista and Kollar lost 9-7 in the first round after a rain delay. The team of Haoda and James Menard, 3-8, took defeat in the round of 32 as well as the team of Jonah Bergeron and Sanchez, 8-5.
“The team performance was very inspiring this weekend,” said Bergeron from Quebec, Canada. “We performed well with the new additions to the team, but we still have much room for improvement and I'm inspired for the spring season.”
On the women’s side for singles, Grace Dawes, 2-6, 6-7, Patty Huerta, 6-7, 1-6, and Jenna Mahoney, 3-6,1-6, were defeated in the first round against tough competition whereas Daniela Casique lost in the round of 16 to a tough competitor from Texas Wesleyan, 3-6, 0-6). Two time ITA regional singles champion Daniela Herrera lost in the quarterfinals against a rival competition from Friends University, 6-4, 6-4.
In doubles, the team of Dawes and Huerta 3-8 lost in the first round. The team of Casique and Herrera, who were seeded the number one overall seed in the regional draw, took on five match ups over the weekend, winning all of them. They will compete in Rome, Georgia at the individual national tournament after winning in the championship match against a strong team from McPherson, 6-0, 6-2.
“I am extremely happy and proud of how Dani and I played,” said Casique from Valencia, Venezuela. “We had so many tough matches, but we still made it through. I am also very thankful for the coach and team's support, this wouldn’t have been possible without them.”
With both teams getting to compete in the regional tournament, and the duo of Dani’s getting to continue their push in the national tournament, both the teams have positive things to look forward to as they go into their spring season.
“The regional was as tough as I've seen it in recent years,” said head coach Gabe Johnson. “Very deep on both sides, the women’s side was very top heavy, a lot of talented players so we were fortunate enough with half our men advancing in the singles draw for the front side of the bracket and having two of our doubles teams getting to the front side of the bracket. On the women's side, the Dani’s were able to make good runs on the singles sides to the round of 16 and big Dani in the quarters.
On the men’s side, I thought we competed okay. We are still figuring some things out in terms of fighting consistently but I think we grew a lot in this tournament and I saw individuals having breakthroughs that will help us through the rest of the fall and getting ready for the spring. On the women's side, it was great to see Jenna Mahoney back from injury and competing again. Obviously the Dani’s making a run to the doubles championship and playing their best doubles together in the final and securing the title was awesome to see. We’re excited to compete with the top teams of the country at the ITA Cup in Rome.”
The duo of Casique and Herrera will compete in Rome, Ga. on Oct. 10th-13th in the ITA Cup.