Lindsborg, Kansas – McPherson College tennis turned in a strong weekend at the KCAC Individual Championships, with the Bulldog women placing throughout the singles and doubles draws and the men bringing home a pair of individual singles championships.
The McPherson women were led by runner-up singles finishes from Laureen Van Drunen at No. 3 and Maria Luisa de Lama at No. 6. Isabella Ellerbee added a third-place finish at No. 2 singles, while Chelsie Brown and Eva Lesteluhu each finished fourth at No. 4 and No. 5 singles, respectively.
Van Drunen advanced to the No. 3 championship match after an 8-1 opening win and an 8-4 semifinal victory over Oklahoma Wesleyan’s Madeline Henderson. She finished runner-up to Bethel College’s Ximena Raya in the final.
De Lama also made a run to a singles championship match. She opened No. 6 singles with an 8-0 victory and defeated Bethel’s Camila Lopez 8-3 in the semifinals. De Lama then pushed Oklahoma Wesleyan’s Nancy Henderson to a deciding match tiebreak before finishing runner-up.
Ellerbee reached the semifinals at No. 2 singles and ultimately claimed third place. Brown and Lesteluhu each won their opening matches before advancing into the final four of their respective flights. At No. 1 singles, Taimi Nashiku was upset in her opening match but responded with a strong doubles run alongside Van Drunen.
McPherson sent two women’s doubles teams to championship matches. Nashiku and Van Drunen finished runner-up at No. 1 doubles after victories of 8-1 and 8-3, with the semifinal win coming against Bethel’s Daniela Casique and Sara Ladino. Ellerbee and Brown also finished runner-up at No. 2 doubles, highlighted by a semifinal victory over the top-seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan tandem of Madeline Henderson and Oceane Frendjian. De Lama and Lesteluhu represented the Bulldogs at No. 3 doubles.
“This weekend gave us exactly what we needed – a chance to compete, learn where we are and establish a baseline for where we need to go,” head coach Jeff Benito said. “I was encouraged by the way both teams competed and supported each other. We had players step into difficult situations, we had some results go our way and some that showed us where we still need to grow. The important thing now is that we learn from it, keep raising our standards and understand that this is only the beginning of what we are building for the spring.”
On the men’s side, one of the weekend’s most impressive Bulldog runs came from Balazs Temesvari, who was called on to substitute in the No. 1 singles flight and entered the draw as the No. 12 seed. Temesvari immediately upset No. 5 seed Evan Maritz of the University of Saint Mary, 8-5. Maritz was an Honorable Mention All-KCAC selection last spring. Temesvari followed with another upset, defeating No. 4 seed Gabriele Renella of Evangel, 8-4, to reach the semifinals.
In the semifinal, Temesvari went toe-to-toe with top-seeded Jorge Batista of Bethel College before falling 8-5. Batista was a First Team All-KCAC selection and NAIA Third Team All-American last season. Temesvari ultimately finished fourth in the conference’s top singles flight after entering the bracket as its No. 12 seed.
Freshman David Cunha and sophomore Davian Spies captured KCAC individual titles at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, respectively. Sophomore Hamish Wyatt nearly gave McPherson a third singles champion, advancing to the No. 4 final and pushing Oklahoma Wesleyan’s Helori Peron to the limit before falling 6-2, 4-6, 15-13 in the deciding match tiebreak.
The Bulldogs also earned important results in doubles. Bruno Barrientos Molina and Jayson Wasserfuhr picked up a win at No. 1 doubles against the University of Saint Mary, leading 5-2 when the Spires retired. Wasserfuhr battled through an injury sustained during singles competition to help the Bulldogs secure the victory.
Cunha and Wyatt finished fourth at No. 2 doubles. Temesvari and Marcus Wagner opened the No. 3 doubles draw with an 8-0 victory before falling 8-5 in their next match.
The Bulldogs now turn their attention to the ITA Fall Regional Championships, scheduled for Friday through Sunday, September 25-27, in Salina, Kansas.
