| SPORTS
| OCTOBER 25, 2005
Tennis
Trio smacks way to top at biggest
fall tourney
Two netters reached the quarterfinals
of the ITA Regionals at Texas A&M.
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| The Shorthorn: File art |
| Sophomore Diego Mattar returns
a ball during practice. The Mavs competed in the ITA Regionals
on Monday. |
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By Kevin
Bueker
The Shorthorn Sports Editor
Two Mavs fell just shy of qualifying for the national indoor championships
at the ITA Regionals this past week in College Station.
Freshman Klara Jagosova and senior Sandy Farquharson reached the
quarterfinals of the main singles draw, highlighting the Mavs’
largest fall tournament.
Despite not reaching the finals and receiving a national championship
bid, the strong showing improved their odds at obtaining a national
ranking.
“It’s going to be extremely close for Klara to become
ranked,” head coach Christian Wassmer said. “She really
needed one more quality win to be in for sure.”
Jagosova, the only UTA woman to advance in the main draw, faced
four Big XII opponents. She defeated Texas Tech’s Ciqdem Duru,
UT-Austin’s Kelly Baritot and Baylor’s Carolin Walter
before losing to Baylor’s Zuzana Cerna.
While becoming the only freshman to reach the quarterfinals, Jagosova
knocked off the fourth-seeded and nationally ranked Walter, before
falling to Cerna.
“Klara was really, really close to making a big statement,”
Wassmer said. “Her showing gave me much higher expectations
for her future.”
Jagosova also reached the quarterfinals of the doubles bracket with
teammate Anete Rozkalne. The 12th-seeded pair won two matches before
losing to No. 5 seed Blair DiSesa and Alanna Rogers, of Rice, 8-4.
Farquharson had the men’s best individual performance while
continuing his quest to be ranked. He knocked off Rice’s Rodrigo
Gabriel, UT-Austin’s Luis Diaz Barriga and Texas A&M’s
Matt Bain to reach the top eight of the 128-man draw. SMU’s
Peter Oredsson ended Farquharson’s run in three sets, 6-1,
6-7, 6-2.
Farquharson said he lost his edge by the end of the tournament and
was disappointed with the way it ended.
“For what I was expected to do, I did well,” he said.
“But for myself, I would have preferred to go on.”
Men’s coach Diego Benitez said Farquharson’s tournament
was a big stepping stone for his continued development.
“Sandy really stepped up to get to the quarterfinals,”
Benitez said. “He’s put enough quality wins on the board
and got good exposure. He has pretty good chances [at a spring ranking].”
Pairing with Daniel Omana, Farquharson also reached the third round
of the doubles draw before losing to UT-Austin’s Michael Venus
and Travel Halgeson, 8-5.
While the Mavs’ No. 1 man swept through the main draw, senior
Niels Buksik tore through the consolation backdraw.
After earning two byes, he defeated Kurt Gattiker, Andy Narido,
David Herrera and Frank Suarez to reach the finals.
“After my first match, I started playing better,” Buksik
said. “I had fewer errors, and by the semifinals, I had a
really dominant serve.”
In the finals, Buksik took the second set but lost to UT-Austin’s
Hubert Chadkiewicz, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
Buksik said the pressure from having the region’s top teams
was daunting at times, but he’s developed a way of controlling
it.
“You can’t influence your environment, you can only
influence what’s happening on the court,” he said. “If
you win the match, everything else falls into place.”Farquharson
and Buksik said the atmosphere the players set for each other helped
build camaraderie and confidence on the court.
“The way both team’s supported each other made it feel
like we were playing at the Arlington courts,” Farquharson
said. “Our team is by far the loudest and most supportive
team out there.”
Although the plethora of matches in the five-day tournament drained
Wassmer and his players, he said UTA was represented well.
“It was an awesome event,” he said. “To be in
it late, when a lot of big programs were missing, was really outstanding.”
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