Men's Tennis Opens Play At ITA Midwest Regional Event

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's tennis team opened action in the 2012 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Regional Championships on Friday (Sept. 28) in Indianapolis, Ind.

The official ITA sanctioned event is being hosted by the University of Indianapolis and runs thru Sunday (Sept. 30).

In Flight A competition, the Bulldogs have three players remaining in the round of 16 as both second-seeded Laurent Galarneau and number six overall seed Sergiu Laza advanced with two wins each as did senior Tyler Marengo.

Galarneau topped Tim McLarty of Missouri-St. Louis in the first round followed by a 3-6, 7-6, 10-3 win over Armand Levandi of Lewis (Ill.) in the second round.

Meanwhile, Laza beat Michael FitzGerald of Wayne State 2-6, 6-1, 10-3 in round one and then defeated Tito Bonadonna of Ohio Dominican 6-4, 6-2 to advance past the second round.

FSU's Marengo was a 6-0, 6-0 winner over Jeremy Mokry of Ohio Dominican in round one and then defeated Felipe dos Santos of Michigan Tech 6-2, 6-1 in the second round.

Razvan Mag fell to Santiago Lopez of Southern Indiana 6-4, 6-1 in round one while Otto Keresztes dropped a 6-3, 6-4 decision to Nils Mueggenburg of Missouri-St. Louis in the opening match.  Both later earned consolation wins by injury default.

In Flight B singles play, Aaron Dial earned a first-round bye and then defeated Trey Keating of Wayne State 7-5, 6-4 to remain alive after round two.

FSU's doubles tandem of Galarneau and Laza also two twice to reach the quarterfinals in doubles play.  They were 8-4 winners in their opening match over Bonadonna and Jjon of ODU followed by an 8-3 win over Hinkamper and Luhring of Quincy.

In doubles play, Keresztes and Mag fell to Javier Oliveros and Sirawit Yumuang of Michigan Tech 8-5 in their first encounter.  The Flight B doubles team of Dial and Marengo earned a first-round bye and then defeated Michael Rawat and Chris Reimer of William Jewell 8-3 to reach the semifinals.

Action continues beginning early Saturday morning at the regional event.