HARBATSIUK ADVANCES TO SEMIS, BARAJAS-SMITH WINS CONSOLATION FINAL TO HIGHLIGHT MEN’S TENNIS AT THE NORTHWEST REGIONALS
10/16/2007
SEATTLE, Wash. -- Sacramento State freshman Kiryl Harbatsiuk reached the semifinals of the main singles draw, and sophomore Xavier Barajas-Smith won the consolation singles championship to highlight Sacramento State’s performance at the Wilson/ITA Northwest Regional Championships, which was played at the Nordstrom Tennis Center.
During the five-day tournament, which began on Friday and concluded today, the Hornets fielded six players at the event, comprised of Barajas-Smith, Harbatsiuk, Holden Ching, Tim Lantin, Anton Stryhas and Sven-David Rueff.
Harbatsiuk was one victory shy of earning an automatic berth into the ITA National Indoor Championships coming up in November in Columbus, Ohio. The freshman from Minsk, Belarus, defeated players from Stanford, Washington, Cal and Oregon during his first four rounds of competition before falling to the tournament’s No. 2 seed Richard Wire of Stanford in the semis. Had Harbatsiuk advanced to the final, he would have received the automatic berth into the national indoors.
After losing in the second round of the singles draw, Barajas-Smith was placed into the consolation bracket where he proceeded to win five consecutive matches to claim the consolation championship. Barajas-Smith, who was last year’s Big Sky Conference MVP, won four of those five matches in straight sets, including a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Washington’s David Chu in the final.
The Hornets’ six players at the tournament combined for a 15-9 record in singles play, including Barajas-Smith (6-1), Harbatsiuk (4-1), Ching (3-2) and Stryhas (1-1). A total of 12 teams were represented at the regional event, comprised of the Hornets, Cal, Gonzaga, Nevada, Oregon, Portland, Saint Mary’s, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Stanford, UC Davis and tournament host Washington.
In doubles play, Sacramento State’s tandem of Harbatsiuk and Stryhas advanced the furthest before falling, 9-8, to a team from Cal in the Round of 16.
The Northwest Regional Championships consisted of a 70-player singles draw and 32-team doubles draw, and is one of nine regional events taking place over the next two weeks around the nation.
Sacramento State returns to action for the team’s fourth and final fall tournament of the season on Oct. 26-28 at the Bronco Classic in Santa Clara, Calif. The Hornets, who are fielding a roster completely make up of underclassmen, open the fall season on Jan. 20 at home against Buffalo.
SEATTLE, Wash. -- Sacramento State freshman 
