Southern Illinois University
Indiana St
Men's Tennis Meet Their Match
04/02/2004 | 12:00:00 | Men's Tennis
April 2, 2004
By Dustin Thompson
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - After an hour and ten minutes of doubles play the intensity of the match between SIU and Indiana State began to grew. All members of both teams surrounded court 1, as the score was knotted at 8-8 between the No.1 doubles teams from SIU and ISU.
This match would be the deciding factor for the doubles point as ISU had already picked up the No. 2 doubles point as ISU's Andrey Kumantsov and R.J. Nagel defeated juniors Alexandru Nomicos and Julian Angel Botero 8-5, while senior Peter Bong and sophomore Tomas Gonzalez defeated freshmen Boyd Michau and Dewald Linde 8-4 to take the No. 3 doubles point. The momentum went back and forth with volley to volley, but eventually it was ISU that came away with the 9-8 win at the No. 1 doubles spot as they claimed the doubles point.
The Salukis six match win streak looked to be a thing of the past as the Dawgs would have to win at least four out of the six singles matches that were left to play. The Salukis could not catch a break as junior Julian Angel Botero would not be able to compete at the No. 3 singles spot, where Botero has been a dominating force all year for SIU, due to a injury sustained to his knee.
With Botero's injury the Dawgs were now down 2-0 and the team's moral seemed to be dropping from match to match. SIU fought hard but just could not get back into the match as sophomore Bojan Ilievski dropped his match at the No 4 spot 6-0, 6-0 to Michau and Gonzalez was defeated by Aaron Phillips (3-6, 6-2, 10-7) at the No. 5 spot.
While the match was clearly out of reach at this point for the Dawgs, senior Peter Bong did not let the loss stop him from making history in his match up at the No. 1 singles spot. In a grueling 1-6, 6-4, 10-5 victory over ISU's Andrey Kumantsov, Bong came away with his 48 career win which places him in a three way tie for 19th on the all-time best list at SIU.
The Salukis will try to get back on track tomorrow as they welcome the Redbirds of Illinois State to the SIU Arena Tennis courts for a 10:00 a.m match.
Results
Indiana State vs. SIU 5-2 (ISU)
Doulbes
No.1-D'Argence Areco/Phillips (ISU) def. Ilievski/ Soswa (SIU)-9-8
No.2-Kumantsov/ Nagel (ISU) def. Nomicos/ Botero (SIU)-8-5
No.3-Bong/ Gonzalez (SIU) def. Michau/ Linde (ISU)-8-4
Singles
No.1-Peter Bong (SIU) def. Andrey Kumantsov (ISU)-1-6, 6-4, 10-5
No.2-Ivan D'Argence Areco def. Alexanadru Nomicos (SIU0-6-2, 7-5
No.3-RJ Nagel (ISU) def. Julian Angel Botero (SIU)-6-0, 3-0
No.4-Boyd Michau (ISU) def. Bojan Ilievski (SIU)-6-0, 6-0
No.5-Aaorn Phillips (ISU) def. Tomas Gonzalez (SIU)-3-6, 6-2, 10-7
No.6-Lukasz Soswa (SIU) def. Dewald Linde (ISU)-2-6, 6-4, 10-3
