ABILENE, TX - The Trinity University men's tennis team kept rolling Friday on day two of the 2026 ITA Southwest Regional Championships, winning 12 of its 16 matches. Five Tigers advanced to the singles Quarterfinals, and three Trinity doubles teams reached the Semifinals.

The Tigers have two all-Trinity singles Quarterfinals and an all-Trinity doubles Semifinal on Saturday's schedule. That guarantees them at least two singles semifinalists and a spot in the doubles final. Singles Quarterfinals begin at 9:00 a.m., followed by the Semifinals at 12:00 p.m. The doubles Semifinals are set for 3:30 p.m.

A year ago, top-seeded Kishan Kersten (Plano, Texas / West) came from a set down to win the regional title, and he showed the same resilience Friday. After dropping the opening set to Reiman of LeTourneau University, Kersten controlled the rest of the match for a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 win. Next up is Smith of Hardin-Simmons University in the Quarterfinals.

Second seed Jared Perry (Tucson, Ariz. / Catalina Foothills) took a tight first set from Hardin-Simmons' Abbey in a 7-2 tiebreaker, then pulled away for a 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 victory. His reward is a Quarterfinal meeting with teammate Fabio Di Loreto [Hometown / High School]. Di Loreto edged Hristov of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in a first-set tiebreaker before cruising to a 7-6, 6-1 win.

Third seed Ryan Warren (Keller, Texas / Connections Academy) never let Foster of Hardin-Simmons settle in, winning 6-3, 6-2. That set up a second all-Trinity Quarterfinal against Kartick Gusain (Cambridge, Canada / Ontario Virtual). Gusain beat Arens of Southwestern University 6-3, 6-3, avenging Arens' Thursday win over Tiger teammate Ivan Nikolovski (Alpine, New Jersey / Dwight Global).

Two Tigers saw their singles runs end Friday. TJ Shanahan (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma / Bishop McGuinness) won the opening set against Scholz of Concordia University, who had knocked out Ethan Flores (Houston, Texas / Clear Lake) a day earlier. Scholz rallied for a 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 victory. Brodie Keller (Sacramento, California / School for the Talented and Gifted) fell to Smith 6-3, 6-2, sending the Hardin-Simmons standout into a Quarterfinal with Kersten.

Trinity was just as strong in doubles, with three of its five pairs winning twice to reach the Semifinals. Top-seeded Kersten and Perry opened with an 8-3 win over Mudry and Salazar Jr. of the University of St. Thomas (TX). They then handled Andre Caledonio and Castleberry of Hardin-Simmons 8-4 in the Quarterfinals. Gusain and Di Loreto matched them, rolling past UMHB's Rossi and Hernandez Bayona 8-2 before topping Arens and Langford of Southwestern 8-4. The two Tiger pairs now meet in the Semifinals, guaranteeing Trinity a team in the championship match.

On the other side of the bracket, defending champions Ethan Flores (Houston, Texas / Clear Lake) and Roshin Kamath (League City, Texas / Clear Springs) kept their title defense on track. The second seeds held off Reiman and Vazquez of LeTourneau 8-5, then beat Rahm and Hristov of UMHB 8-2. Up next is a Semifinal against Smith and Harris of Hardin-Simmons, a pair that ended two Tiger runs on Friday.

Smith and Harris beat Nikolovski and Ethan Ruppanner (Amarillo, Texas / Tascosa) 8-3 in the Round of 16. In the Quarterfinals, they stopped Shanahan and Keller 8-4. The Tiger pair had reached that round with an 8-4 win of their own over Griffin and Hollingsworth of Concordia.

Five Tigers return to the court Saturday at 9:00 a.m. in the singles Quarterfinals, with the winners advancing to the Semifinals at 12:00 p.m. Trinity's three remaining doubles teams play at 3:30 p.m. A rematch of last year's all-Trinity doubles final between Flores and Kamath and Kersten and Perry is still possible.