BABSON PARK, Fla. (November 5, 2019) – The 2019-20 Webber International University men's and women's tennis teams played in three fall tournaments over the months of September and October, and the Warriors' best showing of the fall came at the College Clay Court Championships held during the middle of October in Winter Haven, Florida.

The fall season for the Warriors started with the 2019 ITA Regional Championships held at the Proworld Tennis Academy in Delray Beach, Florida, during the last weekend in September. Then, Webber competed at the Youth Tennis Florida Tournament held in Lakeland, Florida, during the second weekend of October.

The College Clay Court Championships were held the following weekend at the Winter Haven City Tennis Center in Winter Haven, Florida, as the Warriors had both players in the finals of the Navy Draw women's singles and had one guy advance to the semifinals of the Navy Draw men's singles.

2019 ITA REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS:

• Men's Singles:
  • Marc Schneider advanced to the second round, defeating Ave Maria University's Alan Rizk 6-4, 6-0 in round one before falling to Warner University's Felipe Gil 6-3, 6-1 in round two.
  • Matthew Alexander also advanced to the second round, defeating Southeastern University's Thomas Ortega 1-6, 6-0, 1-0 (7) in round one before falling to Rasmus Lindstorm of St. Thomas University 6-3, 6-3 in round two.
  • Hugo Hasegawa, who was seeded No. 4 in the tournament, advanced to the back draw finals against fellow teammate Ivan Bondarenko.

YOUTH TENNIS FLORIDA TOURNAMENT:

• Men's Singles:
  • Christof Buehler advanced to the quarterfinals of the main draw with a 6-3, 6-4 win in round one and a 7-5, 1-6, 1-0 (11) win in a third-set super tiebreaker in round two. Buehler then fell in the quarterfinals to the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament by a score of 6-2, 6-1.
  • Marc Schneider made it to round two in the main draw with a 6-2, 7-6 (2) win in round one followed by a 7-6, 6-3 loss in round two.
  • Matthew Alexander also made it to round two of the main draw with a 6-2, 6-1 win in round one before falling 6-2, 7-6 (2) in round two against the No. 5-seeded individual.
  • Alexander then advanced to the finals of the back draw to take on a player of Saint Leo University, where he fell 8-2.
• Men's Doubles:
  • Hugo Hasegawa and Ivan Bondarenko, who were seeded No. 3 in Gold Draw Men's Doubles, made it to finals with wins of 8-1, 8-2 and 8-5 (upset over No. 1 seeded duo) before falling to a duo from Saint Leo University 8-3 in the championship.
• Women's Singles:
  • Jenna Fosdick, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, advanced to the semifinals of the White Women's Singles main draw. She beat a lady from the State College of Florida in round one (6-2, 6-0) and defeated a girl from Warner University in round two (6-2, 6-4) before falling to a player from Southeastern in the semifinals.

COLLEGE CLAY COURT CHAMPIONSHIPS:

• Men's Singles:
  • Matthew Alexander made it to the second round of the Gold Draw men's singles, defeating Florida National University's Geronimo Vivero 6-4, 6-2 in round one before falling to Southeastern University's Santiago Hass 6-2, 6-3 in round two.
  • Ivan Bondarenko also made it to the second round of the Gold Draw men's singles, beating Florida National University's Hamish Lee 6-4, 4-6, 10-8 in a third-set super tiebreaker. Bondarenko then lost in round two to No. 4-seeded Rodolfo Hasegawa of Palm Beach Atlantic University 3-6, 7-5, 10-5 in another third-set super tiebreaker.
  • In the Navy Draw men's singles, Marc Schneider highlighted the tournament for the Webber men by advancing all the way to the semifinals. He first defeated Ave Maria University's Michael Myrtil 6-4, 6-1 in round one, and then he upset No. 4-seeded Alec Lichter of Southeastern University 6-2, 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals. From there, Schneider beat Warner University's Vitor Wagner 6-2, 7-5; but in the semifinals, Schneider put up a valiant effort before falling to Ave Maria's Carlos Thireau, who earlier in the tournament upset the No. 1-seeded player from AMU and then went on to win the Navy Draw men's singles with a win over the No. 2-seeded player also from AMU.
  • Raul Rodriguez won his first round matchup in the Navy men's singles back draw against Warner University's Hunter Gibson 4-0, 4-0 before falling to Ave Maria University's Michael Myrtil 4-1, 4-3 in the next round.
• Men's Doubles:
  • Hugo Hasegawa and Ivan Bondarenko were seeded No. 5, and after a bye, they beat a duo from Southeastern University before losing to the No. 3-seeded duo from Palm Beach Atlantic in the quarterfinals.
  • Matthew Alexander and Christof Buehler defeated a duo from Florida National University before falling to the top-seeded duo from Palm Beach Atlantic.
  • Marc Schneider and Kyle Hall also won their first round against a duo from Warner University before falling in the second round to a duo from Southeastern University.
• Women's Singles:
  • In the Navy Draw women's singles, Isabelle Niehoff defeated Florida National University's Andrea Granada 6-3, 6-2 in round one and upset the No. 1 seed from Ave Maria University, Aethielle Kelboom, 1-6, 6-4, 10-8 in a third-set super tiebreaker. In the third round, Niehoff beat St. Petersburg College's Robyn Hancock 7-5, 6-1.
  • Also in the Navy Draw women's singles, Jenna Fosdick started off with a win over Palm Beach Atlantic University's Estefani Fernandez 6-2, 2-6, 10-8 in a third-set super tiebreaker. Then, after trailing 5-1 in the first set during round two, Fosdick beat Warner University's Christiana Abeln 5-7, 6-1, 10-8 in to comeback victory to win another third-set super tiebreaker. In round three, Fosdick took out the No. 3 seed from Ave Maria University, Amarlia Benn, 7-5, 6-1.
  • On the final day of the tournament, Niehoff and Fosdick both advanced to the finals of the Navy Draw women's singles as Niehoff had a forfeit win over No. 4-seeded Karla Ortega of St. Petersburg College and Fosdick had the forfeit victory over No. 2-seeded Verena Weindl of Palm Beach Atlantic University.
  • In the finals of the Navy Draw women's singles, both Niehoff and Fosdick put together gutsy performances before Niehoff came out on top 6-2, 6-3.
  • In the Navy women's singles back draw, Megan Kelson defeated Anna Sutton from Ave Maria University before defeating teammate Jordashia Watson 4-0, 4-1 in round two. In round three, Kelson fell to Veronica Kamoi from Warner University 2-4, 4-3, 4-1 in a three-setter.
  • In the Gold Women's Singles back draw, Lily-Rose Rochat upset Gabrielle Benn of Ave Maria University by a score of 4-0, 4-2. Rochat then fell 3-4, 4-1, 4-0 in a comeback victory for Palm Beach Atlantic University's Yulia Russu in the back draw semifinals.
• Women's Doubles:
  • Jenna Fosdick and Isabelle Niehoff defeated a duo from Florida National University 6-1 before falling to the No. 3-seeded duo from Southeastern University 6-2.

WORDS FROM COACH OTIS CUTSHAW: "Fall season tournaments are great to see where we are at playing wise and for the new players to get their feet wet so to speak in college tennis. For returning players, it is to knock the rust off and see what they have to work on before Spring season starts. It would have been nice to get in the first tournament of the year before the ITA's but mother nature had different ideas for us. We showed some great promise and continued to improve as we played more matches. The Spring season looks promising and hopefully will be able to add a few more individuals to the mix to help us make it back to The Sun Conference Tournament at the end of the year."

NEXT UP: The Warriors, who are in their third year under Head Coach Otis Cutshaw, will now aim for back-to-back postseason appearances after both the Webber men's and women's tennis teams qualified for The Sun Conference last season for the first time in seven seasons.