Richter makes quarterfinals at ITA Regional

Big Ten schools dominated both the singles and doubles draws at the ITA Midwest Regional, but some IU players hoped they’d make it further at Minnesota’s Baseline Tennis Center.\nAll three Hoosiers, seniors Thomas Richter and Dara McLoughlin and freshman Phillip Eilers qualified for the main draw, but only one made it past the first day of singles competition.\nEilers lost 6-3, 6-0 to DePaul’s Jose Moncada in the first round. McLoughlin, meanwhile, earned his first win of the fall, 7-5, 6-1, against DePaul’s Vanja Grgec, but faced the ninth seed in the second round.\nDespite upsetting Notre Dame’s Brett Helgeson in three sets in 2006, McLoughlin fell to the nation’s 66th-ranked player this time around, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. \nRichter, seeded eighth, began his run with a first-round 6-4, 6-2 victory against Louisville’s David Simon. In the second round, Richter defeated Iowa’s Reinoud Haal 5-7, 7-5, 6-3. In the Round of 16, Richter knocked off the 10th seed and 87th-ranked Jeremy Sonkin from Wisconsin, 6-4, 7-6.\nIn the quarterfinals, Richter went up against the 13th seed, Ohio State’s Justin Kronauge. Despite being ranked 53 spots behind Richter in the Fila Collegiate Tennis rankings, Kronauge, a former No. 1 U.S. junior singles player, proved to be an unbeatable test.\nThe sophomore ousted the Hoosiers’ top man 7-5, 6-3 to advance to the semifinals and was eventually crowned champion when Illinois’ Ryan Rowe had to default in the finals due to an injury.\nIn doubles action, IU coach Randy Bloemendaal decided to pair Richter with Eilers, splitting up the Richter-McLoughlin pairing for the first time since Richter joined the Hoosiers last January. Richter and Eilers, the 14th seed in the tournament, won two matches on Friday, defeating teams from Marquette and Xavier, 8-5 and 8-0 respectively. \nIn the Round of 16, Richter and Eilers went up against the No. 3-seeded and 25th-ranked Ohio State pairing of Bryan Koniecko and fellow junior Steven Moneke. OSU’s top singles players eliminated Richter and Eilers 8-4 before losing in the quarterfinals.\nIU will next be in action the weekend of Nov. 9 at the Big Ten Singles Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich.