Bearcats Continue to Battle at ITA Regional Championship

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

WALLA WALLA, WASH. -- Willamette University continued its solid showing at the Wilson/ITA Small College Northwest Regional Men's Tennis Championship during the second day of action on Sunday, Sept. 27. The event is being hosted by Whitman College.

Junior Matt Houser (Vancouver, WA/Evergreen HS) and freshman Josh Wong (Hilo, HI/Hilo HS) each won a match in the singles Round of 16 on Sunday, before falling in the quarterfinals. Houser and Michael Baumgartner (Fr., Albany, OR/West Albany HS) also competed in the quarterfinals in doubles.

Houser, seeded #14, defeated Matt Tesmond of Whitman in the Round of 16, 7-5, 6-4. In the quarterfinals, Chris Bailey of Whitman, seeded #3, edged past Houser in the first set, 7-5, before winning the second set, 6-1.

Wong, the #8 seed, prevailed in his Round of 16 match against 12th-seeded Justin Peterson of Pacific Lutheran University, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0, as he rallied after losing the first set. Mark Magdaong of Linfield, seeded #4, defeated Wong in three sets in the quarterfinals, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Baumgartner, seeded #7, also competed in the Round of 16, but lost to Jeffrey Tolman of Whitman, seeded #9, 6-1, 6-4. On the consolation side of the bracket, Willamette's Cody Ferguson (So., North Bend, OR/North Bend HS/Western Oregon University) advanced to the consolation semifinals.

In doubles, Houser and Baumgartner, seeded #4, received a bye in the first round. In the Round of 16, they defeated Michael Cutter and Nick Kelly from the University of Puget Sound, 8-6. In the quarterfinals, the #5-seeded team of Bailey and Jasper Follows from Whitman defeated Houser and Baumgartner, 8-3.

Also in doubles, WU's team of Ferguson and Wong went 1-1. They opened play with an 8-0 win over 7th-seeded Colin Barrett and Michael Shelton of Whitworth University. Ferguson and Wong were defeated by Tesmond and Sam Sadeghi of Whitman in the Round of 16, 8-5.

Action will continue in singles and doubles through Monday, Sept. 28.