TOPEKA, Kansas – Ouachita men's tennis players Phil Exner and Ramon Strassmann paired up to win the ITA Central Region Doubles Championship this past weekend in Kansas.

Exner and Strassmann swept through the doubles bracket at 5-0 with victories over duos from Emporia State and Harding, and three wins over duos from the host team Washburn.

They started with an 8-6 win over Emporia State and followed with an 8-3 win over their first Washburn opponent. In the quarterfinals, they defeated a duo from Harding 8-4 to set up a semifinals matchup with the top-seeded tandem in Washburn's Matthew Earle and Tim Hammes resulting in an 8-5 win. In the finals, they met up with their third Ichabod opponent, taking down Vaclav Schneider and Tommaso Cecchetti in a tie breaker by final scores of 6-3, 4-6, and 10-7.

With the regionals title, Exner and Strassmann have earned a spot in the ITA national event, known as the ITA Cup. That is scheduled for October 10-13 in Rome, Georgia. Other Tigers may earn an at-large bid to the event. Selections have not yet been announced.

Other results for the Tigers doubles included Yarin Aebi and Elias Lagger advancing to the quarterfinals and finishing at 2-1 and Aaron Osmond and Tinus Mueller going 2-2.

In singles, Exner led the way, starting 3-0 before falling in the quarterfinals. Aebi, Osmond, and Strassmann went 1-1. Lagger and Mueller went 1-2. Moritz Buss went 0-2.

The Tigers will be back in action this weekend at the Savage Storm Invitational in Durant.