From University of Chicago Athletics

The University of Chicago men's tennis team continued its march to the quarterfinals at day two of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Central Region Championships on Saturday.

After a late night of competition on Friday due to rain, the Maroons were back on the courts early Saturday morning and did not miss a beat. UChicago's seven singles players went 14-0 on day one and they all pushed forward again on Saturday by making the round of 16.

At the bottom half of the 128-man draw, No. 2-seed Nicolas Chua rolled ahead to the quarterfinal with two wins. The junior captured his second match of the day 6-1, 5-7, 6-1.

Charlie Pei, who came in as the No. 17-seed, booked his spot in the quarterfinals with a pair of wins. He defeated the No. 5 seed from Denison University 6-2, 6-2. Then he ran into junior teammate Luke Tsai, who had dispatched his previous opponent 6-0, 6-1. In the battle between the Maroons, Pei came out on top in three sets 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.

Junior David Liu posted a double-bagel against his first two opponents on Friday with matching 6-0, 6-0 victories. The No. 8-seed won his first Saturday match 6-4, 6-3 and then battled through three sets to advance to the quarters 6-2, 0-6, 6-0.

Junior Peter Leung took his two matches in straight sets (6-0, 6-3 and 6-1, 6-4). He booked a spot in the semifinals due to a withdrawal by his quarterfinal opponent.

Ninth-seeded freshmen Erik Kerrigan and Ninan Kumar both went 1-1 on the day, bowing out in the round of 16 to the No. 4 and No. 7 seeds, respectively. In total, the Maroons account for four of the remaining seven singles players in the draw.

In doubles play, all four UChicago tandems remain alive. The combos of No. 1-seed Chua/Liu, No. 9-seed Kerrigan/Kumar, Leung/Pei and senior Max Hawkins/freshman Tyler Raclin all went 2-0 on the day to advance to the quarterfinals.