Peoria, Ill. ? Michigan is the destination for a pair of 2005 ITA Midwest Regional competitions this week as the Bradley men begin play Thursday, Oct. 20 in Ann Arbor, Mich. at the University of Michigan while the women get underway 60 miles to the east at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich.
Seventeen ITA Regional events (nine men's and eight women's) consummate over the final two weekends of October from coast to coast with singles finalists and doubles champions competing among 32 singles players and 16 doubles teams for the 2005 ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships crown. Qualifiers through regional play will face players earning their spots through the ITA National Small College Championships, the recently concluded ITA All-American Championships and at-large selections made by the ITA National Tournament Committee. The 2005 ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships will be hosted by The Ohio State University, November 3-6.
The Braves will battle it out at the Midwest Regional, Oct. 20-25, against Division I schools from Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
On the men's side, the Braves will send six players including senior Marko Marevic (Podgora, Croatia/S.S. FKA Andrije Kacica Miosica), juniors Wil Lofgren (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton), Alex Roby (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) and Matt Metully (West Chester, Ohio/Princeton) and freshmen Brian Hanus (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) and Evgeny Samoylou (Novgorod, Russia/Moscow Institute).
Lofgren, Hanus and Samoylou's opponents and start times are known in the 64-player singles qualifying bracket.
Lofgren (6-2 fall singles) will hit court No. 5 in the 2 p.m. session against Purdue senior Colin Foster. Foster has an even, 3-3, record this fall and has been a regular in the Nos. 4, 5 and 6 positions for the Boilermakers over the past two seasons.
Brian Hanus (2-6) will see host Michigan's Scott Bruckmann in the second match of the 2 p.m. session scheduled for court No. 7. Bruckmann, a freshman from Florida, is 2-2 on the fall season with both wins coming in Notre Dame's Tom Fallon Invitational.
Evgeny Samoylou (0-5) will see a face familiar to the Braves as he takes on Toledo freshman Mohammed Al Nabhani in the third match on court No. 2. Nabhani is 6-3 on the fall with a win over Bradley's Brian Hanus to his credit.
At the time of release the men's main bracket had yet to be posted for either singles or doubles.
Senior Ashley Morris (Barrington, Ill./Barrington), junior Elise Montrose (Portland, Ore./Sunset), junior Teri Chan (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township) and freshman Kim Braun (Racine, Wis./The Prairie School) will take the court for the Bradley women in East Lansing.
Morris, Bradley's No. 1 player, will take a team-best, 10-4, record into the regional. The Braves' senior enters the tournament with an unbeaten Bradley Invitational and a runner-up finish in the Omaha Collegiate to her credit. Morris will face Purdue senior Brittany Minna in the first round. Minna holds an even 2-2 mark on the fall and a career record of 5-9 at Purdue after transfering from Cal-State Fullerton.
Bradley junior Elise Montrose is coming off a team-high, third place showing at the MVC Individual Championships in Springfield, Mo. The Bradley No. 2 player can claim a fourth-place finish in Omaha to her credit and enters regional play with an 8-6 record on the fall. Montrose will be the second Brave to face a Big Ten player when she meets Ohio State's Angela DiPastina. DiPastina holds a 4-3 singles mark as a freshman.
Teri Chan sports the second-best fall record for the Braves at 9-4 and is coming off a fourth-place finish at the MVC Individuals at No. 4 singles. Chan has played steadily all season with an unbeaten Bradley Invitational and a fifth-place finish at the Omaha Collegiate. Chan will take on Wisconsin-Green Bay's Heather Harding in her opening round match. The Phoenix junior is the No. 1 player for the Horizon League school and has a fall mark of 2-3.
Freshman Kim Braun will see her first ITA Regional competition this weekend. Braun brings a 4-8 mark into play on Thursday including a perfect, 3-0, mark at the Bradley Invitational.
