FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Omaha men's tennis team wrapped up the fall portion of its schedule at the USTA/ITA Regional Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. over the weekend.
"The ITAs are a great way to wrap up the fall because it's a chance to go up against some of the best players in the region," commented Head Coach Tyson Thomas.
Three Mavericks participated in the main draw of the tournament that featured many of the region's top teams.
Freshman Alex Woodward dropped his opening round match in straight sets to Vasileios Stravropolous, 6-1, 6-2. Woodward played a tight match in the consolation round against John Nogalski of Saint Louis, but fell 2-6, 6-2, 10-3.
In the opening round, freshman Matt Dunn's opponent withdrew from the competition, which advanced him to the second round. Dunn lost a split set match to Arkansas' Austin Robles, 1-6, 6-2, 6-0.
Colin Buckley fell to David Herrerias of Arkansas, 7-5, 6-3, in the first round.
The doubles team of Buckley and Dunn dropped their opening round match to Arkansas' Johan den Toom and William Albanese, 8-7 (5).
Coach Thomas was pleased with the way his players started matches but pointed out some areas in need of improvement. "We got off to some big leads but had trouble closing out matches. It's not an uncommon issue with younger players but the bright side is that we showed the ability to compete at that level. Now we need to put in some more work to be able to win at that level."
"We have made great strides this fall," added Thomas. "We are putting together longer stretches of high level play, but we still have some work to do. I'm optimistic looking forward to the spring season."
Omaha opens the duel portion of its schedule at North Dakota on Saturday, Jan. 16.
