SALINA, Kan. - William Woods junior Zino Nahirniak made it a clean sweep of the ITA Central-West Regionals men's singles and doubles titles, winning his second straight doubles championship - his third consecutive doubles final appearance - with senior Noah Burton, his trophy-winning partner in the tournament that took place between Friday and Sunday at Bradley Tennis Courts.

Singles Competition

En route to winning the singles final, No. 1 seed Nahirniak didn't drop a single set. 

On Friday, he beat Avila University's Caige Bjornstad 6-0, 6-0 in the Round of 64 and Bethel College's Billy Haoda 6-2, 6-2 in the Round of 32. Facing tougher competition on Saturday, Nahirniak played tighter matches, winning 7-6 (won the tiebreaker 8-6), 6-4 over No. 16 seed Nick Velders of Nebraska Concordia University in the Round of 16, and 6-3, 6-4 over No. 9 seed Marcos Menendez Hervella of Morningside College in the quarterfinals. 

Finishing off his championship path, Nahirniak defeated McPherson College's Daniel Marcano 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals before prevailing 6-4, 6-4 over doubles teammate, No. 11 seed Burton in the final.

Woods' Burton put in a strong showing in his final ITA Regionals appearance, finishing as runner-up.

Competing on the bottom half of the bracket, Burton prevailed 6-2, 6-2 over University of Saint Mary's Evan Maritz in the Round of 64 and 6-1, 7-5 over Evangel University's Vinicius Costa in the Round of 32. Keeping it up on Saturday, Burton won 7-6 (took the tiebreaker 7-4) over Ottawa University's Jarmo Wienese in the Round of 16, then he won a matchup over fellow Owl Aoi Ooka 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.

In a thrilling three-setter, Burton upset No. 2 seed Mark Trenkle of Morningside 6-7 (lost the tiebreaker 7-3), 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals. Keeping it close against his more experienced doubles friend, Burton dropped both sets by two points to Nahirniak in the final.

Ooka was another William Woods freshman who impressed in his first ITA Regionals competition. Unseeded in a tournament with the top 16 seeded, Ooka was one of the final eight remaining in the 66-player field.

On Friday, Ooka won 7-6 (prevailed 7-4 in the tiebreaker) in the first set against Bethany College's Franciso Bravo, who retired from the Round of 64 matchup due to injury. Ooka earned a pair of statement wins Saturday, defeating No. 14 seed Ayyooque Khan of Oklahoma Wesleyan University 4-6, 6-1, 10-8 in the Round of 32 and No. 3 seed Kazuma Kato of Mount Marty College 6-1, 7-5 in the Round of 16. Fellow WWU freshman Burton eliminated Ooka in the quarterfinals.

Rounding out the Owls' four quarterfinalists, No. 10 seed Duarte Melo took his first three matches in two sets, then fell in a hard-fought three-setter against a higher seed in the quarterfinals.

Melo cruised through his two contests Friday, beating Oklahoma Wesleyan's Raphael Alvado 6-3, 6-3 in the Round of 64 and Midland University's Joren Stevens 6-4, 6-4 in the Round of 32.

After winning 7-6 (won the tiebreaker 7-3), 6-1 over Ottawa's Giorgio Oscar in the Round of 16, Melo lost 7-6 (dropped the tiebreaker 7-4), 3-6, 10-4 to second-seeded Trinkle in the quarterfinals.

Five of six Owls won at least one regional game, with Jesper Seger beating Mount Marty's Patchara Suklian 6-3, 5-7, 10-8 in the Round of 64. Seger's run ended with a 6-3, 6-1 defeat against No. 12 seed Oscar Brouwer of McPherson in the Round of 32. 

WWU's Cole Horton was also knocked out by a McPherson Bulldog, losing 6-3, 6-1 to Arthur Nardy in the Round of 64.

Doubles Competition

No. 2 seed Nahirniak and Burton carried their dominating singles performances from earlier each day of the three-day regionals tournament, winning their doubles matches in one set up to their three-set finals triumph.

Prevailing by no less than five points in their two matches Friday, Nahirniak and Burton beat Hastings College's Nicholas Smeltzer and Ethan Mins 8-2 in the Round of 32 before eliminating Bethel's James Menard and Haoda 8-3 in the Round of 16.

In a Woods versus Woods matchup, Nahirniak and Burton knocked out Ooka and Seger 8-2 in the quarterfinals. Following that contest, the Owls' No. 1 doubles duo won a No. 2 - No. 3 seed semifinal game, beating McPherson's Brouwer and Marcano 8-5.

Battling point for point, Nahirniak and Burton took down the top-seeded doubles team, Midland's Ben Starman and Stevens, 6-7 (lost the tiebreaker 9-7), 6-3, 10-5 to take home the ITA Central-West Regionals doubles championship.

Unseeded in a tournament where the top eight of the 32 doubles teams were seeded, the Owls' freshman doubles team of Ooka and Seger was one of the last eight teams left.

Leaving their mark from the start of play Friday, Ooka and Seger won 8-5 over No. 7 seed Suklian and Youssef Boubaker of Mount Marty in the Round of 32 before beating Bethel's Rodrigo Sanchez Hurtado and Jonah Bergeron 8-5 in the Round of 16. Taking on WWU's more experienced, second-seeded doubles team, Ooka's and Seger's competition ended when they fell to Nahirniak and Burton by three points.

All three of Woods' doubles teams reached the quarterfinals, with No. 6 seed Melo and Robert Schorr getting there.

Taking both their matches Friday, Melo and Schorr won 8-4 over OKWU's Khan and Manuel Espinal in the Round of 64 and 8-6 over Nebraska Concordia's Velders and Hugo Fuentes Gomez. Facing a better doubles team on paper, Melo and Schorr fell 8-3 to No. 3 seed Brouwer and Marcano of McPherson in the quarterfinals.

Nahirniak and Burton come up against the NAIA's best when they take part in the ITA Cup, hosted by Berry College from Oct. 10-13 at Rome Tennis Center in Rome, Ga.

Before that tournament, No. 8 William Woods travels to St. Louis to face NCAA Division II University of Missouri-St. Louis next Sunday at UMSL Tennis Courts.