Note: This article was finalized on Monday, Nov. 9 and does not take into account any events that have transpired since then.
Successful performances from Denver’s men’s and women’s tennis programs at regionals hosted by the University of New Mexico just about conclude the 2015 fall events.
Denver men’s tennis won the Mountain Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Regional Championships with first place finishes from singles competitor, Diogo Rocha (Lisbon, Portugal) along with doubles Henry Craig (Murrieta, California) and Alex Gasson (Alton, United Kingdom).
Rocha, the no. 2 seed, defeated the University of Utah’s Dan Little 6-0, 5-7, 6-4 in the championship match for main draw singles.
Craig and Gasson defeated University of New Mexico Lobos’ Hayden Sabatka and Bart Van Leijsen in a back and forth match, where the Pios claimed the title in a 10-point tiebreaker 10-6 over the Lobos.
Rocha, Craig and Gasson will compete in the National Indoor Championship beginning on Nov. 12 in Flushing, New York.
“It [Nationals] is a great opportunity to face some strong competition,” said Rocha.
The men’s tennis roster didn’t graduate any senior players last season, so the entire team returned this year.
“Trust, trust is a big word with this team. Trust what the coaches say, trust the practice and trainings and trust my teammates,” said Rocha.
Denver’s women’s tennis team had three out of four Pios qualify for the semifinals, marking as the best result Denver has ever had at the ITA Mountain Regionals.
One of the three semifinalists, Julia O’Loughlin (Highland Beach, Florida), advanced to the final match where she battled University of Colorado Boulder’s Ormeno Ruiz. O’Loughlin and Ruiz fought back-and-forth with set scores of 4-6, 6-4 and the final set of 6-3, which was played inside due to heavy rain, but O’Loughlin was unable to secure the win.
“I came back to school with a huge focus on the individual season. My goal all summer was to train hard enough to win regionals, although I fell just short, I am very happy with my result and I feel that my hard work really paid off,” said O’Loughlin.
The final fall event for the women’s tennis program is the Big Green Invite at Dartmouth College beginning Nov. 6.
“I think a huge priority for us lately has been focusing on doubles. Since Dartmouth is a hidden duel match, we are playing as a team and the doubles point is very important; it sets the momentum for the rest of the day,” said O’Loughlin.
Both men and women’s programs produced successful results during the fall events, but look forward to the spring season.
Men’s tennis is set to host the ITA kickoff against the Ohio State University and Wichita State University on Jan. 24 at 10 a.m. and the women’s tennis team is scheduled to play University of Memphis on Jan. 22 at 10 a.m. Both matches will be held in the Ritchie Center’s Stapleton Tennis Pavilion.
