Lander University

General 10/15/2026 1:37:00 PM Hailey Franklin - Assistant Sports Information Director

Bearcats Set to Compete at ITA Southeast Regional Championships

SUMTER, S.C. - The opening-round draws for the Lander men's and women's tennis teams were released ahead of the 2026 ITA Division II Southeast Regional Championships, scheduled for Oct. 16-19 at the Palmetto Tennis Center in Sumter.

The four-day tournament will feature singles and doubles competition, with the Bearcats competing against programs from across the Southeast Region.

On the men's side, Harry Pugh enters the main singles draw as the No. 1 seed and will open against Viktor Viraghalmi of Francis Marion at 10 a.m. Friday. Christian Bacher will face Henrique Terela Fratini De Castro of Emmanuel at 11 a.m., while Brendan Jayaprakash is scheduled to take on second-seeded Simon Malis of Flagler at 11:30 a.m.

In the men's B singles draw, Chan Min will face seventh-seeded Cam Simpson of Belmont Abbey at noon, while Luke Dent will take on Jules Subra of Francis Marion at 12:30 p.m.

In men's doubles, the Bearcats will have two pairings competing in the main draw. Bacher and Tanussh Ghildyal will face Viktor Viraghalmi and Jules Subra of Francis Marion at 8 a.m. Friday. The seventh-seeded duo of Pugh and Jayaprakash will also begin at 8 a.m., taking on Martino Colabella and Riku Ogasawara of Anderson.

For the Lander women, Maria Jose Zarza and Astrid Sandwall Tornqvist enter the main singles draw as No. 9 seeds. Zarza will open against Rachel Black from Georgia College at 2 p.m. Friday, while Tornqvist will face Alexia Ozores of Coker at 2:30 p.m.

In women's doubles, seventh-seeded Esther Mansson and Sandwall Tornqvist will open against Gigi Sompayrac and Martina Coves Noales of Anderson at 9:30 a.m. Friday.

The main singles draws feature 64 players each, while the B singles draws consist of 32 players. The main doubles draws feature 32 teams, and the tournament format also includes 16-team B doubles draws. Singles competition includes two rounds of consolation play.

Main-draw singles matches in the first two rounds will be played as best-of-three sets with a 10-point match tiebreak in place of a full third set. From the round of 16 onward, matches will be contested as best-of-three full sets. B-draw singles matches will use a match tiebreak in place of a third set.

Doubles matches will be played as eight-game pro sets, with championship matches contested as best-of-three sets using a match tiebreak in place of a full third set.

Competition continues through Monday, Oct. 19, when the regional championships conclude.

Full tournament draws and updated match schedules are available through the ITA tournament website.

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Players Mentioned

Maria Jose Zarza: Senior

Esther Mansson: Freshman

Astrid Sandwall Tornqvist: Freshman

Luke Dent: Sophomore

Brendan Jayaprakash: Junior

Chan Min: Sophomore

Harry Pugh: Junior

Christian Bacher: Sophomore

Tanussh Ghildyal: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Maria Jose Zarza
: Senior

Esther Mansson
: Freshman

Astrid Sandwall Tornqvist
: Freshman

Luke Dent
: Sophomore

Brendan Jayaprakash
: Junior

Chan Min
: Sophomore

Harry Pugh
: Junior

Christian Bacher
: Sophomore

Tanussh Ghildyal
: Freshman