ST. PETER, Minn. – The Yellowjacket men's tennis team enjoyed an historic season in 2022-23.
 
Head coach CeeJay Schaffner assembled a team that ran roughshod over the rest of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC), winning the North Division regular season championship before falling in the conference title match, losing out on a chance to advance to a second-straight NCAA tournament.
 
The trip to get back to the NCAA tournament began Friday, with the Yellowjackets taking part in the ITA Midwest Regional, hosted by Gustavus Adolphus College. The Yellowjackets had players competing in the singles and doubles events of the ITA Division, as well as playing in the "B" Division singles matches, and a couple had strong showings on the season's first day.
 
In the ITA Singles, Ren Kurachi (Yokohama, Japan/Yokosuka Gakuin) was the lone Yellowjacket to earn a victory. Kurachi defeated Thomas Kampmeier of Loras College 6-2, 6-2 in the opening round, before falling in the second round to Rafael Costa of Gustavus Adolphus College, 2-6, 0-6.
 
Last year Igor Guetten Chaves (Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil/Colégio Adventista) played most of the season at No. 1 singles, and he opened the ITA against St. Scholastica's Eamon Derard. Derard took the first set 6-3 before Guetten Chaves rallied to take the second set 6-1. Derard took the match when he won the tiebreaker 10-8.
 
In the other ITA Singles match, Jacob Zacharias (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) lost to Andrew LaBelle in straight sets, 1-6, 1-6.
 
The loss in singles play didn't deter Zacharias, however, as he partnered with Yash Chhabra () in doubles play to defeat Colin Chapman and Ethan Wurtzel of UW-Eau Claire, 8-7 (7-4). Zacharias and Chhabra will play Gage Gohl and Tyler Haddorff of Gustavus Adolphus Saturday.
 
In other doubles matches, Guetten Chaves and Kurachi fell to Luke Westholder and Max Loen of Luther College, 7-8 (4-7), while Sharan Kanugovi () and Lucca Paladini () dropped their match to Brady Horstmann and Alex Aranda of UW-La Crosse, 8-4.
 
Paladini enjoyed a big day over in the "B" Division singles. After receiving a bye out of the first round, Paladini defeated Aniketh Vipparla of Carleton College in the second round, 5-4 (10-8), 5-3. He then took down Ramon Wenker of Luther, coming from behind to win 3-5, 4-2, 1-0 (10-4). Paladini will play in the Round of 16 Saturday, taking on Parker Sprague of UW-Whitewater.
 
Chhabra also made a run in the "B" Division. He defeated Dylan Nadolski of Concordia University Wisconsin 5-3, 4-0 in the first round, and then beat Aadityaa Juniwal of Gustavus Adolphus 4-0, 5-3. His run came to an end in the third round, however, when he lost to Tiago de Felicio of Luther, 2-4, 4-5 (2-7).
 
Finally, Kanugovi defeated Isaac Hinze of Coe College in the opening round, 4-2, 5-4 (7-3) to advance to the second round. He reached the third round after defeating Josh Klement of Concordia University Wisconsin 0-4, 4-1, 1-0 (10-4). In the third round, however, his tournament came to an end when he was upended by Jakub Belik of St. Olaf, 3-5, 4-2, 0-1 (6-10).
 
The Yellowjackets are back in action Saturday, playing at multiple venues. At the ITA Midwest Regional, doubles play and consolation singles and doubles will take place, as will the remaining rounds in the "B" Division singles. In addition, members of the Yellowjackets will play St. Norbert College at 10 a.m. The match will be hosted by UW-Eau Claire.