Two members of the Valpo men's tennis team advanced to the final rounds of the qualifying singles draw at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Regionals held at the Eck Tennis Pavilion on the campus of Notre Dame.

Freshman Chad Kissell (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) and junior Kyle Dunn (Fond du Lac, Wis./Fond du Lac) are now one win away from earning a berth in the main draw portion of the tournament following their 2-0 Thursdays.

Kissell persevered for a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Toledo's Luka Vitosevic in the morning before coasting to a 6-3, 6-2 triumph over Western Michigan's Eric Olivarez. He'll face Notre Dame's Daniel Rayl on Friday morning at 7:00 am CT.

Dunn dispatched Green Bay's Rowan Isaaks, 6-2, 7-6, in their first-round match. Dunn moved on to the second round where he upset Ohio State's Charles Shewalter, 6-4, 6-3. Toledo's Vince Anzalone awaits Dunn in a match slated for Friday morning at 7:00 am CT. 

Seniors Lucas Waak (Manitowoc, Wis./Roncalli) and Michael Savaglio (Kenosha, Wis./Mary D. Bradford) dropped their first-round matches, but rebounded to take their consolation contests.

Notre Dame's Brendon Kempin got past Waak 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 in the morning. Waak responded with a 6-4, 6-3 win over DePaul's Paul John.

Savaglio fell to WMU's Andrew Cahn, 6-4, 6-3, but prevailed in his consolation tilt, 4-6, 6-2, 10-8 versus Cleveland State's Kevin Goth.

Sophomore Garrett Gardner (Poland, Ohio/Poland) was on the wrong end of a pair of three-set contests. Michigan's Davis Crocker outlasted Gardner 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, in the opening round of play. Gardner then dropped a 4-6, 6-2, 10-8 marathon match to UIC's Marcelo Dib.

Live scoring will be available for Friday morning's matches. The link is posted at ValpoAthletics.com.