Strode Villanueva Advance at ITA Central Regional Championships

Fayetteville, Ark. –No. 96 Blake Strode advanced to the quarterfinals of the ITA Central Regional Championships on Saturday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Tulsa.

Strode, seeded in the top eight among the participants, topped Dinko Halachev of Arkansas-Little Rock, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, for his third singles win of the tournament. Strode will face No. 11 Daniel Byrnes of Oklahoma State, the tournament’s No. 1 seed, on Sunday in the semifinals.

In the singles consolation draw, Jorge Villanueva won two matches on Saturday and will play in the semifinals on Sunday. The La Paz, Bolivia native, currently 3-1 in the tournament, took a 6-3, 6-3 sweep from Marcus Fadul of St. Louis. He then battled Richard Harrison of Missouri-Kansas City to a 6-4, 6-3, 10-3 victory. Villanueva will face Rodrigo Lama of Southern Illinois on Sunday.

For complete results of the ITA Central Regional Championships in Tulsa, Okla., visit www.tulsahurricane.com.