Senior Kyle Dunn (Fond du Lac, Wis. / Fond du Lac) won two matches to lead the competing Crusaders in the qualifying round of the ITA Midwest Regional in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday. All four Crusaders won their first-round qualifying matches.

How It Happened

• Dunn played two tightly-contested sets against Northern Illinois’s Eric Marbauch and came out on top 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of singles qualifying. He completed a 2-0 day with a 6-3, 7-5 win over UIC’s Marcelo Dib in the second round.
• Freshman Brandon Ancona (Belvidere, Ill. / Rockford Christian) rolled to a first round victory over Chicago State’s Rohan Wattley 6-1, 6-2. However, he dropped his second-round match to Andreas Boers of Illinois State 6-4, 7-5.
• Freshman Daniel Langston (Ponca City, Okla. / Ponca City) prevailed 6-2, 6-1 over a conference opponent as he faced off with UIC’s Christian San Andres in the first round. He later dropped a tight match with Northern Illinois’s Bor Muzar 7-5, 5-7, 6-1.
• Junior Garrett Gardner (Poland, Ohio / Poland) claimed a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Northern Illinois’s Tom Hjertonsson in the first round. In Round 2, he took the opening set 6-2, but then lost the match as Chicago State’s Gonzalo Martinez won Set 2 6-3 and the decisive set 6-4.

Next Up

The third round of qualifying will take place on Friday as Kyle Dunn squares off with Notre Dame’s Brendon Kempin. Later in the day, the first round of the main draw and the first round of doubles will get underway. Charlie Emhardt, Jeffrey Schorsch, Chad Kissell and Dave Bacalla are all part of the main draw. In addition, Kissell and Bacalla will team up for doubles, while Emhardt and Schorsch will also represent the Crusaders in doubles competition on a busy Friday at the ITA Regional Championships.