ABILENE, Texas – LeTourneau men's tennis took part in the ITA Southwest Regional Championships hosted by Hardin-Simmons University last weekend.
Eight members of the YellowJackets' 14-man roster made the trip, with each player picking up at least one singles win.
Andrew Reiman and Fernando Vazquez were the two YellowJackets placed in the tournament Top Bracket, and both performed admirably.
Reiman upended Trinity's Ethan Ruppanner 6-4, 7-6(6) in the first round, before advancing to the Round of 16 with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Hardin-Simmons' Zeus Celedonio. Reiman's run came to an end after a hard-fought three-set loss to the tournament's top seed, Trinity's Kishan Kersten.
Vazquez picked up a first-round win over Texas Lutheran's Kadon Sullins 6-2, 7-5, before falling to ninth-seeded Maddux Foster out of Hardin-Simmons in a third-set tiebreak.
In Flight B, LeTourneau's Diego Maldonado picked up a first-round win over Luke Leavelle from Hardin-Simmons in dramatic fashion. After dropping the opening set 6-0, Maldonado responded by taking the second set 6-1 and forcing a ten-point third-set tiebreak.
The madness had only just begun.
In one of the longest tiebreaks in LeTourneau history, Maldonado secured a thrilling 20-18 victory to punch his ticket into the second round. Maldonado could not continue his success as he fell to ETBU's Zephan Morgan, 7-5, 6-1. Morgan would go on to win Flight B.
LeTourneau also got first-round wins from Keltan Jordan and Hayden Harry, who both secured wins over players from ETBU. While Jordan won comfortably in straight sets, Harry battled back from a set down, taking the second set 6-2 and the match tiebreak 11-9. Jordan and Harry could not come through in their second-round matches.
After losing his first-round match in a third-set tiebreak, Jack Giseburt went on a tear in the consolation draw by picking up three straight wins, before falling in the consolation final in another third-set tiebreak. Brayden Money picked up a 7-6(3), 6-2 win in the consolation over Schreiner's Edgardo Flores, before dropping his next match.
Timothy Black competed in Flight C and earned a 6-1, 6-3 win over McMurry's Aiden Hager to advance to the Quarterfinals. The quarters are where Black's run came to an end as he lost 4-6, 6-3, 10-7 to Hardin-Simmons' Michael DeCosmo.
On the doubles side, Reiman and Vazquez paired up and competed in the Top Bracket. They earned a first-round win 8-5 over a team from UMHB, before falling 8-5 to the tournament's second-seeded duo, Trinity's Roshin Kamath and Ethan Flores.
The teams of Giseburt and Money, along with Black and Jordan, each picked up a first-round win in Flight B, before falling in the Round of 16
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