BERKELEY, Calif. -- The Gauchos traveled across the state over the weekend for a slate of competitive tennis matchups, where standout performances from Lucca Liu and Dominique Rolland clinched them spots in the NCAA Singles Championship in Orlando, Florida, later this month.
ITA CONFERENCE MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Conrad Brown and Miguel Avendano, seeded sixth in the tournament, received a bye into the Round of 16 in doubles play.
On the second day of competition, the pair hit the ground running, taking the first set 6-3. They ran into trouble in the second set, dropping it 6-4 and sending the match to a 10-point tiebreak. In a nail-biting finish, Brown and Avendano narrowly fell 11-9 to Amar Tahirovic and Brendan McDonald of Bucknell.
ITA WEST SECTIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Three boys in Blue and Gold made their way to Berkeley, all participating in singles play, in addition to Lucca Liu and Diogo Morais competing together in doubles competition.
Together, Lucca Liu and Diogo Morais quickly found success against the Berkeley opponents on their home court, winning a tightly contested second set in a tiebreak, 6-4, 7-6 (6). Advancing to the quarterfinals, the pair faced UCLA's Rudy Quan and Aadarsh Tripathi, the tournament's No. 3 seeds. After dropping the first set, Liu and Morais bounced back to take the second, forcing a 10-point match tiebreak. However, despite their efforts, they ultimately fell 5-7, 6-4, 0-1 (5).
Morais faced off against No. 4 seed Alex Chang of Stanford, battling hard in the second set to force a tiebreak but ultimately falling in a two-set match, 6-2, 7-6 (10).
Despite falling to Tripathi in doubles, Liu bounced back in singles, defeating him 6-3, 6-3. He continued his momentum with a straight-sets win over Berkeley's Paris Pouatcha, 6-2, 6-4. Advancing to the quarterfinals, Liu faced No. 5 seed Filip Gustafsson of Arizona and battled through a three-set contest to prevail, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. With this win, he qualified for the NCAA Singles Championship in Orlando.
Dominique Rolland, the tournament's No. 1 seed, lived up to his top billing. In his Round of 32 match, he displayed grit and composure in a 6-4, 7-6 (7) victory over Oskar Jansson. Despite dropping the first set in the Round of 16, Rolland rallied to defeat UCLA's Andy Nguyen, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5. He then cruised past Niels Villard in the quarterfinals, 6-3, 6-3, securing his place alongside Liu in the NCAA Individual Championships later this month.
