CARY, N.C. – Head coach Mike Griffith took five Gardner-Webb players to the ITA Regional Championships in Cary, N.C. with the five representing the Runnin' Bulldogs over a three-day period.
Connor Enslin, Sebastian Harris, Victor Putter and Breno Plentz all played singles action, while Plentz teamed up with Stefano Puga in doubles play. Gardner-Webb's second doubles team consisted of Enslin and Harris.
In the main singles draw, Enslin got off to a hot start with a come-from-behind win over USC Upstate's Luka Eble. After Eble won the first set, 7-5, Enslin roared back for a 6-3 win to tie the match and earned a 6-4 victory in the third set. His time in the main draw ended in the Round of 64 when he lost to North Carolina's Mac Kiger in straight sets. Kiger was one of the 24 seeded players in the event.
Plentz lost his main draw match to Tadas Babelis, the 9th overall seed, from N.C. State, 6-2, 6-2 but found success in consolation play. He advanced to the Round of 32 in the consolation bracket when he prevailed over Elon's Dino Bonetta, 6-1, 6-4. In the Round of 32, he faced off against North Carolina Central's Thanos Spyropoulos. After dropping the first set, Plentz won set two, 6-1 and a super tiebreaker in the winner-take-all third set, 10-5. In the Round of 16 on Sunday morning, he fell to Furman's James Roelofse in three sets, 6-3, 1-6, 6-10.
"Breno was again the player of the tournament for us," said Griffith. "He got three huge wins against some of the best players in the region (including doubles). The others who competed had times of high quality play but played too inconsistent to take a huge leap. However, they learned a lot, and they want to be the best. We accomplished a lot and next weekend four will travel to the Big South Fall Invite in Clinton."
Despite a victory in the second set of his opening match, Putter fell to College of Charleston's Easton Thomas in the main draw before falling to NC State's Martin Rocens in straight sets in the consolation bracket, 7-5, 6-3.
Harris lost to the #2 overall seed in the first round of the main draw, South Carolina's Daniel Rodrigues, 6-1, 6-2. In the consolation play, he battled Coastal Carolina's Zac Talic and suffered a 6-3, 6-0 loss.
In doubles play, Plentz and Puga were pitted against Bonetta and Nick Condos of Elon. The Gardner-Webb duo earned an 8-5 win over the Phoenix and advanced to face eighth-seeded Daniel Groom and Bruno Caula of UNC Wilmington. Despite taking two games from Groom and Caula, Plentz and Puga were defeated, 8-2.
Enslin and Harris beat Furman's Drew Singerman and Ivan Mitric, 8-5, before falling to the second-ranked duo from Duke, 8-1.
Next up, four Runnin' Bulldogs will travel to the Big South Fall Invitational on Friday, October 25 in Clinton, S.C. to close out the fall season.
