KALAMAZOO, Mich. –
Maik Steiner put himself in prime position to win his third singles draw of the fall,
Stephen Payne advanced to the Flight E Singles finals, and the Western Michigan men's tennis team completed its second day of competition at the MAC Invite played at West Hills Athletic Club. Play will conclude on Sunday with one round of singles and one round of doubles.
Steiner advanced to this third singles final of the fall with a strong performance against Northern Illinois's Fred Cadieux, defeating the Husky in straight sets. Steiner downed Cadieux 6-2, 6-4 to move on to the Flight A Singles final, where he will face Buffalo's Damien David on Sunday afternoon.
Also moving on to his singles final was junior Stephen Payne, who advanced to the Flight E finals with a quick match against Northern Illinois's Austin Russell. Payne made quick work of his opponent in winning 6-2, 6-2 to advance. Wrapping up the singles success for the Broncos were the performances of Pablo Mora and Marc Shideler, who each advanced to their respective back draw finals. Mora beat Ball State's Collin Rigney 6-3 6-2 to move ahead in the Flight D Singles Back Draw, while Shideler beat Toledo's Stephen Miller 6-3, 7-5 to go to the Flight E Singles Back Draw final.
Mora also had himself a strong day in doubles play, teaming up with Toledo's Roberto Meza to advance to the finals of the Flight C Doubles draw. Mora and Meza opened the day with a win over Buffalo's Tony Miller and Noah Haidu Anderssen and kept things rolling with an 8-2 victory over Ball State's Pat Downs and Patrick O'Connor. They are slated to play Shideler and Matt Hamilton tomorrow; the pair of Broncos cruised past Mark SIngnil and Stephen Miller by an 8-1 score earlier in the day.
Flight A Doubles
Stephen Payne/Andrew Cahn (WMU) def. Ray Leonard/Collin Rigney (BSU) 8-4
Stjepan Sisko/Omar Espinoza (UT) def. Stephen Payne/Andrew Cahn (WMU) 8-5
Flight B Doubles
Maik Steiner/Jimmy Beckwith (WMU) def. Tom Hjertonsson/Carlos Manzanas (NU) 8-6
Garrett Cona/Nicky Wong (UT) def. Maik Steiner/Jimmy Beckwith (WMU) 8-5
Flight C Doubles
Marc Shideler/Matt Hamilton (WMU) def. Mark Singnil/Stephen Miller (UT) 8-1
Pablo Mora (WMU)/Roberto Meza (UT) def. Tony Miller/Noah Haidu Anderssen (UB)
Pablo Mora (WMU)/Roberto Meza (UT) def. Pat Downs/Patrick O'Connor (Ball State) 8-2
Flight A Singles
Maik Steiner (WMU) def. Fred Cadieux (NIU) 6-2, 6-4
Flight B Singles Back Draw
Pablo Alvarez (UB) def. Andrew Cahn (WMU) 6-4, 6-4
Flight C Singles
Ismael Dinia (Binghamton) def. Matt Hamilton (WMU) 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (7)
Flight D Singles Back Draw
Pablo Mora (WMU) def. Collin Rigney (BSU) 6-3, 6-2
Flight E Singles
Stephen Payne (WMU) def. Austin Russell (NIU) 6-2, 6-2
Flight E Singles Back Draw
Marc Shideler (WMU) def. Stephen Miller (UT) 6-3, 7-5