EDMOND, Okla. — Northeastern State's men's tennis team advanced deep into singles competition, highlighted by Alexander Edley's run to the quarterfinals and Luis Denda's semifinal appearance, at the ITA Central Regional.
Edley won three consecutive matches in the men's A draw to reach the quarterfinals. He opened with a 3-6, 6-3, 10-8 victory over Emporia State's Gwendal Mazuary before defeating Ouachita Baptist's Yarin Aebi 6-3, 6-1 and Southern Arkansas' Uwe Diehl 6-2, 6-3.
Edley's run ended in the quarterfinals against Washburn's Killian Martinez, who won 6-1, 6-7, 6-1.
Denda led the RiverHawks in the men's B draw, winning three matches to reach the semifinals. He defeated Northwest Missouri State's Will Sheil 6-0, 6-1 in the opening round, then beat Arkansas-Fort Smith's Simeon Latinchev 6-4, 6-3 and Emporia State's Evan Goates by retirement while leading 5-1.
Denda advanced to the final with a 1-6, 6-2, 10-7 victory over Southeastern Oklahoma State's Paolo Estrada in the semifinals.
Other RiverHawks also posted multiple wins in singles. Mansur Khajimuradov won his first two A-draw matches before falling to Washburn's Yuto Miyagawa in the round of 16. Bram Stevens and Ko Osuga each reached the quarterfinals of the B draw, while Tomas Aramburu and Baptiste Linet picked up wins in consolation play. Linet advanced to the consolation semifinals in the A draw.
On the women's side, Sofia Kotliarova and Renata Morales reached the quarterfinals of the A-draw doubles bracket. The duo defeated Nebraska-Kearney's Jasmine Ben Aba and Valentina Zamora 8-6, then beat Augustana's Mia Garcia and Simone-Maria Karaouza 8-5 before falling 8-3 to Central Oklahoma's Mei Hasegawa and Ayaka Koga.
Morales also earned two consolation singles victories, defeating Southeastern Oklahoma State's Daniela Vivas Valencia in three sets and Nebraska-Kearney's Jasmine Ben Aba 6-1, 6-2. She fell to Emporia State's Giovanna Ferreira 6-3, 6-2 in the consolation quarterfinals.
Laura Mertens and Lucia Bontempo each won a consolation singles match, while Michaela Muller collected two consolation victories in the women's B draw before losing in the semifinals.
In men's doubles, Luis Denda and James Edley opened with an 8-5 victory over Arkansas-Fort Smith before falling 8-6 in the second round. Northeastern State's other doubles teams competed across the A and B draws, facing tough competition throughout the tournament.
The ITA Central Regional provided Northeastern State with opportunities to compete against teams from across the region, with Edley and Denda leading the way in singles and Kotliarova and Morales producing the top women's doubles finish.
Northeastern State player wins
Men's singles
Women's singles
Men's doubles
Women's doubles
