MAIZE, Kan. - The Bethel College Men's Tennis team took part in the ITA West Regional hosted by Kansas Wesleyan at Maize South High School. Milan Bucek turned in the best finish for the Thresher men after getting knocked off in the semifinals by the eventual champion.

Bucek entered the ITA West Regional unseeded and made a deep run to the semifinals in singles

The junior was the only unseeded player to make it into the quarterfinals and semifinals.

During his run to the final four, he took down three seeded players: #11 Daniel Marcano from McPherson, #4 Patrick Shelepov from #15 William Woods and #5 Ben Grumley also from William Woods.

His first matchup came against Tabor's Jean Paul Fort, a match in which Bucek won 7-5, 6-3.

Next he took on the 11th seeded Marcano from MC. Bucek would win 7-6(8-6), 6-4.

Milan then took down 4th seeded Shelepov from WWU 7-5, 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals.

His quarterfinals match came against the 5th seed Grumley also of WWU. Bucek won a three set thriller 4-6, 7-5, 11-9.

Bucek run came to an end when he ran into eventual champion Vaclav Schneider, the #1 seed, in the semifinals where he lost 6-4, 6-1.

Bucek played doubles with partner Petr Kollar, a change from his usual pairing. The duo was seeded 5th and was knocked out in the round of 16 by Texas Wesleyan's pairing of Merino/ Link 8-6.

The Threshers will be back in action on October 6th when they take on John Brown at Ward Tennis Center.