Glendale, Ariz. – Over a four day span last week due to weather delays, Arizona Christian men's and women's tennis dominated the 2025 NAIA ITA Western Regionals by winning two of the four championships. The Firestorm will send two individuals to the NAIA ITA Cup in Georgia next month, with a chance of another two at an at-large bid as well.
ACU hosted the regional event at Paseo Racquet Center with high temperatures and thunderstorms as the biggest foes for everyone due weather delays.
On the men's side, two ACU players made it to the semi-finals. Returner Sam Miyata pulled three upsets in order to get into the finals, beating Stanton's #2 player, ACU's #2 Lennert Lemaheiu and Hope International's #1 player as well. Miyata met ACU's returner Hugo Abril in the finals for the men's singles and Abril won the men's singles. Abril has won back-to-back men's singles in the ITA Regionals.
In the men's doubles, Miyata and ACU's returner Petar Wemmenhove pulled two upsets beating Stanton's #1 team and OUAZ's #1 team as well. In the men's doubles finals, it was all ACU on their gear as Miyata and Wemmenhove faced off against Abril and Lemahieu. For the second year in a row, Abril and Lemahieu have won back-to-back finals.
Coach Phil Carlisle said, "This was an exceptional tournament for our guys. The region is much stronger than it was a year ago, but when you looked up at the end we still had all-ACU finals in both singles and doubles. I'm thrilled for Hugo and Lenny having another opportunity to play at the ITA Cup, they definitely deserve it. But I'm so proud of Sam for a great run to the final taking out a lot of higher seeds along the way, and proud of him and Petar for taking out two top teams on their way to the doubles final. We showed how strong we are at the top for sure, but we also showed our depth and resilience through a lot of tough situations."
On the women's side, ACU's freshman Eloise Diligent beat the tournament's #4 and #5 seeds on the way to the semifinals. She was later taken down by OUAZ's Martina Antich.
Coach Phil Carlisle had this to say about the women's team: "I couldn't be more proud of the way our girls competed this weekend. We're a very young team and if you look at what we lost from last year's team it would be easy to think that this year we'd be in full rebuilding mode. But our girls fought like crazy this week and pulled out several tight wins including a couple of big upsets. Even our losses were highly competitive and I don't think too many people would have expected that coming into this year. I can't wait to get back to work with this group and to see what we're capable of this season."
Abril and Lemahieu have qualified to participate in the NAIA ITA Cup hosted by Rome, GA on October 16-19. Miyata and Wemmenhove will get a chance at an at-large berth. The field will be announced soon.
Great job representing the Firestorm and good luck in Georgia.
