Two Valparaiso University men’s tennis players have advanced to championship matches in the Western Michigan Invitational, while four others picked up at least one victory on the first day of singles play in Kalamazoo on Saturday.

How It Happened

• Brandon Ancona (Belvidere, Ill. / Rockford Christian) swept through Flight C singles on Saturday, winning his quarterfinal match in dominant straight sets over Ninan Kumar (University of Chicago) 6-0, 6-1 before bouncing back from a Set 1 loss to beat Jack Randall (Western Michigan) 4-6, 6-2, 10-6 in the semifinal. He has punched his ticket to Sunday’s final, where he’ll meet Butler’s Aviv Ben Shabat.
• Franklin Brozovich (Fort Gratiot, Mich. / Port Huron Northern) had a quality day in Flight G singles, earning a pair of straight set wins. He topped Temilope Adelakum (Butler) 6-2, 6-3 in the semis after a 6-4, 7-5 win over Arthur Chau (University of Chicago) in the first round. He has played his way to a date with Billy Sishler of Michigan State in Sunday’s final.
• In Flight E, Gabriel Carvajal (Pembroke Pines, Fla. / Broward Virtual School [Florida Atlantic]) started the day with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Detroit Mercy’s Jenya Sirous. Carvajal then dropped his second match on Saturday to Fran Tonejc of DePaul, and will play in the third-place match on Sunday.
• Kweisi Kenyatte (Detroit, Mich. / East English Village Preparatory) played a tight three-set showdown, but fell to DePaul’s Vito Tonejc 2-6, 7-5, 10-5 in the first round before a 6-3, 6-3 win over Dino Bonetta of Detroit Mercy in the Flight B consolation draw.
• Daniel Langston (Ponca City, Okla. / Ponca City) was defeated 7-5, 6-3 by Dominik Sochurek of Purdue in the first round of Flight E, but he rebounded with a 6-2, 6-3 consolation win over DePaul’s Tamas Zador.
• In Flight F, Brian Pecyna (Glen Ellyn, Ill. / Homeschooled) won a close match with Gvidas Motuzas of Detroit Mercy 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-5 to advance to the semifinals, where he fell 7-5, 7-6(3) to Jorge Bartra of Illinois State. Pecyna will play in a third-place match on Sunday.

Next Up

The final round of singles play in each draw will take place on Sunday, the last day of the Western Michigan Invitational.