INDIANAPOLIS – With an official end to the regular season, the tournament field for the men's and women's Summit League tennis championships has been announced by the league office Monday (April 24). Both the IUPUI men's and women's teams qualified for the event, taking the No. 4 seed into the weekend as the Jags will face the reigning Summit League champion Denver Pioneers.
Semifinal action begins Friday (April 28) at 11 a.m. EST with the opening men's round, which pits No. 1 Denver (11-12, 4-0) against No. 4 IUPUI (7-20, 1-3) at the West Indy Racquet Club. Other action includes No. 2 Oral Roberts (9-11, 3-1) taking on No. 3 Omaha (8-12, 2-2) simultaneously at the Park Tudor School site.
Women's action is set to go the same day at 3 p.m. EST with the Jags (5-17, 3-3) taking on No. 1 Denver (16-6, 6-0) at the West Indy Racquet Club. No. 2 South Dakota (8-13, 4-2) will battle No. 3 Oral Roberts (14-10, 3-3) at the Park Tudor School site.
The men's team advances to their eighth-consecutive Summit League Tournament, while the women return to the post season after missing last year's tourney. The men's side has been led on the year by
David Beasley, who has put together a 13-11 dual-meet singles record and 15-12 overall, which included a fall victory over a regionally ranked opponent. Beasley also leads the team with an 11-11 doubles record, pairing with three different partners throughout the course of the season. Both
Bradley Luetschwager and
Steven Christie were tabbed Summit League Players of the Week this past year, as Luetschwager finished second on the team with a 13-11 singles mark. Christie has missed a large portion of the season due to injury.
The women's team came through in the clutch at the end of the season, taking an absolutely essential 5-2 dual-meet from South Dakota State, followed by a 4-3 win over DePauw to cap the year.
Valeriia Lavrenchuk has led the Jags for most of the season, compiling an 11-19 overall singles record with a 9-13 mark in dual-meet play. Operating mostly out of the No. 1 spot, she's gone 7-10 this season when facing opponent's top players. Lavrenchuk and
Mariella Pessina have both put together 8-13 doubles records, going 7-7 when paired with one another. Pessina is fourth on the team with six dual-meet singles wins, as both
Samantha Mayer and
Sara Sherif are tied for second with seven wins each.
Admission to the Summit League Championships is free at both the West Indy Racquet Club and Park Tudor sites on Friday, with the final round set to take place Saturday (April 29) at the West Indy Racquet Club.
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