DES MOINES, Iowa- All four Shocker men who competed in singles competition on Friday at the Missouri Valley Conference Individual Tennis Championships moved past pool play and will continue to fight for championships in their respective flights.

In flight one singles play, senior team captain Matheus Pereira went 2-0, first getting a big win against a ranked opponent, defeating No. 68 James McKie of Drake, 7-6(2), 6-3. Pereira continued his great play when he took down Badr Cherradi of Southern Illinois, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, to move into the semifinals where he will play No. 91 Billy Paluch of Creighton.

Sophomore Tomislav Gregurovic dropped his first contest of the day in flight two singles, falling to Erik Brunskog of Illinois State in a very close match, 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(7). He then defeated Harnish Weerasinghe of Bradley, 6-1, 6-4. Gregurovic's effort was good enough to earn him a match against Robin Goodman of Drake in the semifinals.

In flight three singles play, Guillermo Nicol defeated Ryan Norman of Creighton, 7-5, 7-6(1), and Jacob Wilson of Illinois State, 6-4, 6-4 to go 2-0 in pool two of the flight. Nicol will take on Ahmed Albitar of Bradley in the semifinals.

Alvaro Gutierrez was the only other Shocker to compete on Friday, going 2-0 in flight four pool play. He first defeated Jonny Rigby of Southern Illinois in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1, then Elliot Baker of Creighton, 6-0, 6-3. Gutierrez will play Jakub Eisner of Illinois State in the semifinals.

Play continues at the individual championships on Saturday. The day will start at 9 a.m. with pool play in the doubles competition. Following that will be the semifinals of the singles flights. Results will be posted on GoShockers.com after the completion of play.

-WICHITA STATE-