Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Western Illinois
Salukis Sweep Singles, Defeat Western Illinois 6-1
04/01/2007 | 12:00:00 | Men's Tennis
April 1, 2007
By Ryan Shaw
www.siusalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - After dropping the doubles point to Western Illinois the Southern Illinois men's tennis team swept all six of the singles matches to pick up a 6-1 victory earlier today at the University Courts.
"I am very proud of the way the team performed especially after losing the doubles point," said head coach Dann Nelson. "The team decided not to give Western another point and swept the singles. We were very motivated to keep our home winning streak alive."
The Salukis (9-4, 0-1) got off to a rough start, dropping two of the three doubels matches. Only Hugo Vidal and Rodrigo Lama were able to win in No. 2 doubles action, 8-2.
Trailing 1-0, the Dawgs rallied and swept the singles matches to win the match and improve their home record to 5-0.
Villasenor battled a touch opponent in Martin Bostrom in No. 1 action and picked up the 6-2, 6-3 win.
"Felipe match was key for us," said Nelson. "We knew if Felipe could get a win then we could close the door on them. Felipe is showing everybody what he can do."
Stankovic beat Tiu 6-3, 6-4 in No. 6 play, which Nelson said was an encouraging sign.
"Milos Stankovic played well and got a win after dropping his match yesterday," said Nelson "Milos rebounded well after yesterday and played much smarter and it showed in the results."
Rodrigo Lama continues to be impressive in No. 4 singles, improving his record at the position to 6-0 with a win over Andy Jones, 6-1, 6-2.
Hugo Vidal powered past Neil Lesinski, 6-2, 6-1, in No. 3 singles action. Lucas Waked came out on top against Forsberg, 6-1, 6-4 in No. 5 play.
Perhaps the most impressive performance of the day was Sergio Sanchez's three-set victory in No. 2 singles.
"I am especially proud of Sergio Sanchez being down 6-2, 5-2 and then coming back and winning the match in the ten point tiebreaker," said Nelson. "Sergio showed some pride and just refused to lose."
The Dawgs hope to keep up their level of play as they enter into a weekend of conference play. The Salukis will travel to Illinois State on Friday for a match at 3 p.m. On Saturday the Salukis will take on Bradley in Peoria, Ill.
Doubles Results:
No. 1 - Josh Wittenberg/Justin Junck (WIU) def. Sergio Sanchez/Lucas Waked (SIU) 8-4
No. 2 - Rodrigo Lama/Hugo Vidal (SIU) def. Martin Bostrom/Neil Lesinski (WIU) 8-2
No. 3 - Mike Tiu/Drew Forsberg (WIU) def. Felipe Villasenor/Milos Stankovic (SIU) 8-6
Singles Results:
No. 1 - Felipe Villasenor (SIU) def. Martin Bostrom (WIU) 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 - Sergio Sanchez (SIU) def. Justin Junck (WIU) 2-6, 7-6, 10-8
No. 3 - Hugo Vidal (SIU) def. Neil Lesinski (WIU) 6-2, 6-1
No. 4 - Rodrigo Lama (SIU) def. Andy Jones (WIU) 6-1, 6-2
No. 5 - Lucas Waked (SIU) def. Drew Forsberg (WIU) 6-1, 6-4
No. 6 - Milos Stankovic (SIU) def. Mike Tiu (WIU) 6-3, 6-4
Players Mentioned
