GOSHEN, Ind.— The Missouri Baptist men's and women's tennis teams traveled to Goshen, Indiana on Wednesday, Sept. 23, to compete in the ITA Regional Championships.

Senior Ruslan Anurev and sophomore Samuel Sanchez led the Spartans, claiming the men's doubles championship after three days of competition.

The duo opened tournament play with an 8-2 victory over Bethel University before edging Goshen College in an 8-7 tiebreaker. They advanced to face another set of Bethel and Goshen players on day two, continuing their run with 9-8 and 8-6 wins.

Anurev and Sanchez played their final match Friday, Sept. 25, against host Holy Cross College/Notre Dame, securing the title with a 7-6, 6-4 victory.

Head coach Scott Goodyear was impressed with the pair's immediate success.

"Ruslan and Samuel are a new doubles pairing that had only been together for a week prior to ITAs. They stayed true to who they are as players, but pushed themselves out of their comfort zones this tourney in trying new things. To see them have such amazing success so quickly speaks to who they are as people. They reminded us all to never put limits on yourself and just go compete!" Goodyear said.

Graduate student Sebastian Junghanns and sophomore Nelson Ramos also made a solid run, advancing to the semifinals after two wins over Grand View University, 8-3 and 8-2. The pair ultimately fell to Holy Cross on day two, 7-9. 

With strong opening matches for the men's singles competition, several Spartans had to face one of their own.  

Anurev and Junghanns each advanced to the tournament semifinals. At the No. 3 seed, Anurev cruised by his first three matches, defeating teammates Arkhip Tokmahov (6-4, 6-4) and Bogdan Zakharov (6-2, 6-2) to advance to day three. 

No. 2 Sebastian Junghanns battled MBU's Omar Farahat in a 6-3, 5-7 split before claiming the 10-7 match tiebreak to advance.

Anurev eventually fell to top-seeded Ching Wah Wai from Holy Cross (3-6, 3-6), while Junghanns fell short in a 1-6, 6-1, 6-7 tiebreak against No. 8 Iago Ciucio of Goshen College. 

Women's
On the women's side, several doubles pairs had strong showings throughout the tournament. 

Juniors Yvonne Shannon and Melissa Jangarasheva opened with two consecutive wins over Olivet Nazarene University duos, winning 8-0 and 8-3. However, the pair fell on day two in a tight 7-9 match against Goshen College. 

MBU partners Lucy Paro and Taytum Stafford, as well as Lucia Rubio and Munisa Ashurbekova, each won their opening matches but did not reach the semifinals. 

Yvonne Shannon and freshman Natalie Haug advanced the furthest in women's open singles, claiming two wins apiece for the Spartans. 

Next: MBU men's tennis returns to action Wednesday, Oct. 7, at 2 p.m. against Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro, Kentucky. The women's team will compete in the UTR Tournament on Friday, Oct. 9, through Sunday, Oct. 11, at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

To see all results, click ​​​​​​here.