By Barry Aldridge, Sports Editor

The Armstrong Tennis team saw a lot of action this past weekend at the UTSA/ITA Small College Championships. Senior Clara Perez lost a 6-4, 6-2 match to the reigning champion as well as the top seed, Valeria Confalonieri of Lynn, the top-ranked singles player in the country.

The doubles duo of Dora Andrejszki and Lena Lutzeier made it into the finals, but fell to the third seeded Linda Fritschken and Emma Onila of Barry, 6-2, 6-1. When asked about her thoughts on losing in the championship match Andrejszki said, “Lena is a freshman and I am a sophomore, and we both don’t have a lot of experience. We need to make sure we stay focused, practice more doubles drills until the season starts, and be determined to take advantage of every opportunity we have during a match. It was a great tournament, and I’m very excited for the spring season to start.”

On the men’s side, senior Fernando Bogajo captured a “Super Bowl” singles title with a 7-6, 7-5 win over Deni Zmak of Embry-Riddle. With this win, Bogajo became just the fourth Pirate to win the Division II bracket at the Small College Championships.

“I had to be focused every match like it was the first match of the tournament,” Bogajo said, “My body felt good and I had enough power to play many matches. Even though my wrist injury was bothering me, I was able to ignore the pain and stay focused in every match.”

With this win Fernando earned a wildcard entry into the upcoming ITA National Indoor Championships in Flushing, New York on Nov. 6. Notably, he will be the only non-Division I player in the field.