Svjetlicic and Steiner Advance in Singles, Steiner/Hamilton Move on in Doubles

SOUTH BEND, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's tennis team has two individuals in sophomore Maik Steiner and freshman Matej Svjetlicic still playing in the ITA Midwest Regional Championships Main Draw. In doubles play, the duo of Steiner/Matt Hamilton earned a win to advance in the main draw doubles to keep their perfect record this season.

In the qualifying singles, Svjetlicic earned a hard fought victory over Brenden Kemper of Notre Dame by a score of 6-7 (8-6), 6-4, 6-3 while Daniel Loebel fell to top-seeded Kevin Wong of Michigan.

In the main draw, Svjetlicic earned a 6-2, 6-1 win over Dave Bacalla of Valpo to extend his winning streak to 13 matches and improve his record to 15-1. Steiner earned a 6-7 (7-3), 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 24 seeded Howard Scott of Green Bay to improve his record to 5-4 this season. No. 13 seeded Jefta Kecic, Ruben Greiner and Hamilton all dropped their first match and were eliminated.

In the main draw doubles, No. 23 seeded Steiner/Hamilton earned an 8-6 win over Rayl/Griffin of Notre Dame to improve to 8-0 this season. The team of Kecic/Stephen Payne, who were previously unbeaten at 3-0 and seeded No. 12, fell to Steffens/Greve of Illinois State.

Qualifying Singles

Svjetlicic (WMU) def. Brenden Kemper (Notre Dame), 6-7 (8-6), 6-4, 6-3

Kevin Wong (Michigan) def. Loebel (WMU), 6-4, 6-3

Main Draw Singles

Sten Leusink (DePaul) def. Hamilton (WMU), 6-3, 6-3

Matt Mendez (Ohio State) def. Greiner (WMU), 6-3, 7-5

Svjetlicic (WMU) def. Dave Bacalla (Valpo), 6-2, 6-1

Florian Kraenzler (UWGB) def. Kecic (WMU), 6-3, 6-4

Steiner (WMU) def. Howard Scott (UWGB), 6-7 (7-3), 6-4, 6-3

Main Draw Doubles

Steffens/Grave (Ill. St) def. Kecic/Payne (WMU), 8-3

Steiner/Hamilton (WMU) def. Rayl/Griffin (Notre Dame), 8-6