Collegian Sports Staff
Cameron’s tennis teams competed in Midwestern State’s Invitational tennis tournament on Sept. 16-17 in Wichita Falls, Texas.
The Aggies took on host Midwestern State along with Tyler Junior College, UT Permian Basin, Ouachita Baptist, Dallas Baptist and Texas A&M-Kingsville.
The weekend started with bad weather conditions. Nonetheless, the Black and Gold expected to continue their momentum after their first sweep against Cowley College on Sept. 12.
In the women’s competition, Aggie pairs placed in both doubles draws.
Senior Paula Gutierrez and sophomore Zhenia Shviadok went on to win group one doubles against their MSU opponents 8-5.
Junior Mathilde Thibaudat and freshman Jamie Kronenberg clinched a berth in the semifinals after defeating their Dallas Baptist counterparts 9-8.
They fell in the semifinals 8-2 but came back to win third against a pair of MSU opponents in the first flight miscellaneous bracket with a score of 9-8.
In the other doubles bracket, seniors Samantha Wood and Magdalena Kovinic captured second in group two, losing to a pair from Tyler Junior College 8-3 in the finals.
In singles actions, Gutierrez and Shviadok advanced to the finals in the flight one but did not play the match.
Wood also advanced to the semifinals, losing in straight sets to Shviadok.
In singles draw two, Thibaudat fell in three sets to her MSU opponent in the opening round but reached the finals of the back draw.
Kronenburg reached the quarterfinals of the main bracket but lost in her miscellaneous match.
Kovinic was the lone Cameron competitor in the third draw, falling in all three of her matches.
Gutierrez said the MSU Invitational was a great opportunity to compete against top schools before the ITA Regionals tournament.
“It shows us the level we are at now as well as showing us what we have to work on before heading into the regional tournament,” she said.
In men’s action, sophomore Bruno Babic won flight two singles 6-4, 6-3 against MSU’s Chris Norrie. Freshman Julen Gutierrez won his opening match 6-2, 6-1 but lost in his quarterfinals and miscellaneous matches.
In the number one bracket, Aggies Mateo Velasco, Vinicius Santos and Felipe Oyarzun advanced out of the first round, with Santos reaching the semifinal matches.
In men’s draw three, Andres Velasco fell in his first round matchup but went on to the finals of the bracket back draw.
Redshirt freshman Keiran President and true freshman Stefam Svicevic advanced out of the opening round.
Svicevic lost in three sets during the quarterfinals while President fell in the semis.
In doubles action, the three CU teams all lost upon reaching the quarterfinals of draw one.
The teams of Oyarzun/M. Velasco and Santos/J. Gutierrez won their respective miscellaneous matchups.
President and A. Velasco won their opener in the two bracket but lost in the semifinal round.
The fall tennis season contains fewer matches with an emphasis on singles play.
While the Aggies only compete in individual play during the fall season, Babic said his teammates helped him to achieve first place.
“It was not an easy weekend playing up to four matches each day under the sun,” Babic said. “I began cramping a little bit in the finals, but with the support from my teammates and my determination, I pulled through.”
Next, the Aggies will play in the ITA South Central Regional in Arlington, Texas.
Students interested in CU athletics can visit cammeronaggies.com for more information.