From Case Western Reserve University Athletics
The Case Western Reserve University men's tennis team got off to a strong start on Friday at the 2017 ITA Fall Central Region Championships, hosted by Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with five singles players advancing to the round of 32, and one doubles pairing reaching the round of 16.
Still alive in the singles draw for the Spartans are 17th-seeded freshman Matthew Chen, sophomore Henry Squire, freshman Josh Hsia, 25th-seeded junior Rob Stroup, and sophomore Sam Concannon. In doubles play, the CWRU duo of Hsia and sophomore Anthony Kanam won a pair of matches during the first day of competition to advance to Saturday's round of 16.
Hsia, a late addition to the field, was the surprise of the tournament so far, picking up a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 with over ninth-seeded Bernardo Nieves from Washington in the round of 127, followed by a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Trine's Quinn Jackson in the second round. In addition, he teamed with Kanam to pick up an 8-1 win over Alex Kohlmeier and Lucas Pindak of North Central and an 8-2 victory over Ohio Wesleyan's Jack Hibbard and Diego Vinegas Vargas.
Concannon also had a win over a seeded opponent, opening play with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over no. 17 Luke Tsai from Chicago, followed by a 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-3 win over Ricardo Parrado from Kalamazoo.
The Spartans' five singles players still alive are second only to Chicago's seven at the tournament.