Springfield, Mo. - Sherif Abohabaga and Chris Blodig both advanced in doubles and singles play in the opening day of the USTA/ITA Central Regional Championships on Friday.

Abohabaga picked up an opening round victory over Lindenwood's Naoufal El Idrissi 6-1, 7-5 before advancing to the round of 16 with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over East Central's Adria Abella. Chris Blodig also picked up a pair of victories, taking down Harding's Neto Cacace 6-0, 6-2 in the opening round and East Central's Sergio Espias 6-2, 4-6, 10-4 in the second round.

Torben Semrau picked up a big 6-2, 6-3 victory over 14th seeded Mohab El Zanaty of Nebraska-Kearney before falling to Washburn's Blake Hunter 6-3, 3-6, 10-7. Also picking up an opening round victory was Omar Diab who defeated Ouachita Baptist's Andre Stefano 3-6, 7-5, 10-3 before falling to Harding's Carlos Crisostomo 6-0, 6-1. Raul Rodriguez took down Lindenwood's Theo Butaeye 6-2, 6-4 in the opening round, but fell in the second round to Southeastern Oklahoma State's Netanel Alcabas 6-2, 6-1. SBU's final singles player, Marcel Castillo, fell in the opening round to Nebraska-Kearney's Joey Richards 6-2, 6-4.

In doubles competition, the doubles team of Abohabaga/Blodig picked up an opening round victory over Southeastern Oklahoma State's Popovic/Geurts 8-5, while also advancing to the round of eight with an 8-5 victory over Lindenwood's El Idrissi/Butaeye. Semrau/Rodriguez picked up an opening round victory over 4th seeded Alcabas/Blesa of Southeastern Oklahoma State 8-6 before falling to Oklahoma Baptist's Ackerknecht/Atturu 8-3 in the round of 16.

In the B draw, Brad Cicek picked up a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Drury's Damien Minguez before falling 7-5, 6-4 to Northwest Missouri's Marc Ahlers in the following round. Lucas Rogers had a tight battle against Lindenwood's Brock Dillon, but fell 1-6, 6-2, 10-6, while Joao Almeida fell to Ouachita Baptist's David Carbo 7-5, 6-2.

The Bearcats will return to action on Saturday, October 3 for day two of the USTA/ITA Central Regional Championships. Play is set to resume at 9:00 a.m. from the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield.