Chambana Sun

Junior Kenta Miyoshi has qualified for the NCAA Individual Championships after a strong performance at the ITA Midwest Regional in East Lansing, Michigan. Over four days from October 11 to 14, Miyoshi, who was seeded fifth in the main draw, won five straight matches in straight sets. His victories included wins over two ranked opponents: Sebastian Dominko of Notre Dame and Alexander Bernard of Ohio State.

The Illinois team had seven athletes competing in the singles main draw and three pairs in the doubles main draw. William Mroz reached the semifinals before losing to top-ranked Ozan Baris of Michigan State. Mroz achieved a notable win against Aristotelis Thanos of Michigan State earlier in the tournament.

In doubles play, Tyler Bowers and Zach Viiala advanced to the finals but were defeated by Benjamin Kittay and Gavin Young from Michigan. "First off, hats off to Michigan State for hosting a great tournament; it was very well-run and professional all weekend," said head coach Brad Dancer. He praised Miyoshi's advancement to the NCAA Championships and noted growth among other players like Zach Viiala and Tyler Bowers.

Coach Dancer also highlighted William Mroz's connection with Coach Tim Kopinski as an exciting development. Despite some performances not meeting expectations, Dancer emphasized that effort was not lacking among his team members.

In addition to their individual successes, Illinois' doubles teams showed strong performances with all three pairings reaching at least the third round. Guzauskas/Mroz notably defeated Felix Nordby/Vincent Yang from Northwestern, while Viiala/Bowers took down Aristotelis Thanos/Ozan Baris of Michigan State.