INDIANAPOLIS, IN. – After today’s Quarterfinals of the 2023 ITA Division II Men’s National Team Indoor Championship, play has begun to heat up across the UIndy Tennis Center as we now look to our Semifinal matchups.
Friday’s Quarterfinal play saw some drama as we witnessed UIndy take down the #1 seeded team of the tournament, Barry. UIndy joins (2) Columbus State, (3) Saint Leo, and (5) Wayne State in Saturday play.
In the opening Quarterfinal match of the day, Columbus State and Embry-Riddle took to the court as Columbus State was looking to continue their streak of making the Finals for the 4th straight year, while Embry-Riddle was looking to make the most of their first appearance in the Men’s Team Indoor Championships.
Columbus State made quick work of the doubles, winning 6-2 and 6-0, on courts 1 and 3, respectively.
With the doubles point, Columbus extended their leads with straight wins on singles courts 2 and 6. With the remaining 4 courts headed to third sets, Embry-Riddle would need all 4 to swing their way in order to win. However, Columbus State would win 6-1 in the final set of #4 singles to sweep the scorecard 4-0
The next Quarterfinal match pinned (3) Saint Leo against (6) Hawaii Pacific. Hawaii Pacific would come out dialed in for doubles, taking the Doubles Points with a 6-2 win on court 2, and a 6-1 win on court 3.
Singles was an entirely different environment for the Sharks. Saint Leo would go on to take 4 of the first sets in singles and ride those towards straight set victories on courts 1, 2, 3, and 5, taking the match with a score of 4-1.
The match of the day came in the afternoon slot when 8th seeded UIndy took on top-seeded and No. 1 ranked Barry.
With the home crowd behind their back, UIndy looked to take some of their fans’ energy into the doubles. Sets started off evenly matched, before UIndy would run out to 6-2 victories on courts 1 and 2.
Singles for UIndy could not have gone on a better start, with the greyhounds taking all 6 first set wins over the buccaneers. #4 singles would look to be the only court that would manage to split sets, while courts 6 and 2 submitted straight set victories for UIndy, leaving them at a 3-0 advantage and one court away from the National Team Indoor Semifinal.
Edgar Destouet (UIndy) would clinch the final point necessary for UIndy at the #1 singles position, and experience his team closing in on him as he send the host team to the next round.
The final match of the day saw (4) Flagler face (5) Wayne State for the last spot in the National Semifinals.
Flagler and Wayne State would provide our closest match of the evening as the doubles play saw each team reaching at least 4 games. Court 2 would be stalled at 5 games all, while Flagler would take 6-4 wins at courts 1 and 3.
With a 0-1 disadvantage going into singles, Wayne State would take 5 of the 6 first sets, dropping their only first set on court 4. Wayne State would take the overall lead, 2-1, with quick wins on #2 (6-1 6-3) and #3 (6-4 6-2). Flagler would even up the match at 2-2 with a straight set win on #4 and take the lead, 3-2, with a win on #1 singles. Not forcing a third set, Ong-Patzwald (Wayne State) would take his match on #5 singles, 7-6 7-6 to even up the dual match score at 3-3. Denali Kitayama (Wayne State) would provide the clinching blow to Flagler as he took the final third set, and propelled The Warriors to a Semifinal appearance.
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Scroll below for a complete recap of today’s Quarterfinal round of play:
Quarterfinals — Friday, February 17
- Columbus State (2) def. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (7), 4-0 | Box Score
- Saint Leo University (3) def. Hawaii Pacific University (6), 4-1| Box Score
- University of Indianapolis (8) def. Barry University (1), 4-0 | Box Score
- Wayne State University (5) def. Flagler College (4), 4-3 | Box Score
