Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Tennessee Tech
Men's Tennis knocks off Tennessee Tech, 5-2
03/14/2007 | 12:00:00 | Men's Tennis
March 14, 2007
By Ryan Shaw
www.SIUSalukis.com
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Southern Illinois men's tennis team traveled to Tennessee yesterday to take on the Golden Eagles of Tennessee Tech (1-10). The Salukis came away with a 5-2 victory, improving their record to 4-3.
The Salukis got off to a good start with a sweep on the doubles courts. Sergio Sanchez and Milos Stankovic defeated Tiago Gilioli and James Bennett, 8-6. Felipe Villasenor and Lucas Waked teamed up to knock off Borja Zarco and Louis Steyn, 8-6. Rodrigo Lama and Hugo Vidal beat Juan Pablo Gomez and Mitchel Hubert, 9-8 (7-1)
"We started slow at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles and got down early but then the guys got fired up and started to play much better and dominated the last half of their pro-set," said Nelson. "We get better every time we set foot on the court in doubles. We gained some momentum and confidence with the doubles point and used it in singles."
SIU continued to perform well on the singles courts, winning four of the six matches. Villasenor beat Steyn, 6-0, 6-4, on court three. On court four, Waked defeated Gomez, 6-2, 6-4.
Vidal beat Bennnett on court five in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1. Also collecting a victory was Nick Bauer with a 6-3, 3-6, 12-10 victory over Hubert on court six.
"Vidal, Waked and Villasenor all won their first sets in singles very quickly," said Nelson. "Vidal had no problems with Bennett at No. 5 and Waked and Villasenor held on to win their matches to clinch the win. Nick Bauer was able to win another match in a third set tiebreaker."
The Salukis will travel to Murray, Ky. tomorrow to take on Murray State at 1 p.m. before playing their first home match of the season on Saturday against IUPUI at 2:30 p.m.
Results:
Singles:
No. 1 - Tiago Gilioli (TTU) def. Sergio Sanchez (SIU), 6-3, 6-3)
No. 2 - Borja Zarco (TTU) def. Rodrigo Lama (SIU), 6-3, 6-0
No. 3 - Felipe Villasenor (SIU) def. Louis Steyn (TTU), 6-0, 6-4
No. 4 - Lucas Waked (SIU) def. Juan Pablo Gomez (TTU), 6-2, 6-4
No. 5 - Hugo Vidal (SIU) def. James Bennett (TTU), 6-0, 6-1
No. 6 - Nick Bauer (SIU) def. Mitchel Hubert (TTU), 6-3, 3-6, 12-10
Doubles:
No. 1 - Sanchez/Milos Stankovic (SIU) def. Gilioli/Bennett (TTU), 8-6
No. 2 - Villasenor/Waked (SIU) def. Zarco/Steyn (TTU) 8-6
No. 3 - Lama/Vidal (SIU) def. Gomez/Hubert (TTU), 9-8 (7-1)
Players Mentioned
