Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Saint Louis
Men's Tennis falls to Saint Louis, 5-2
03/19/2010 | 12:00:00 | Men's Tennis
March 19, 2010
By Michael Benson
www.SIUSalukis.com
ST. LOUIS - Despite a spectacular performance from Chikara Kidera, the Saluki men's tennis team's road woes continued, as they fell to Saint Louis, 5-2, Friday at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center.
"Saint Louis played very well today and you have to give them credit," said Saluki head coach Dann Nelson. "We did not play well in doubles. We fought back, but did not play well enough to close out matches and get the win."
Kidera - a native of the Gateway City - won in both singles and doubles on the day. The freshman defeated Billiken junior Bryan Beasley in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, to take fifth singles. Meanwhile, Kidera teamed up with fellow freshman Brandon Florez in No. 2 doubles to top SLU's Ken Nordheim and Chris Eriksson, 8-6.
Falk De Beenhouwer also notched a win in singles, winning in No. 3 singles. The Belgian battled back from an early deficit to take down Jake Hendrie 0-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).
However, the rest of the Salukis could not muster a win in their respective matches.
Senior Anton Leonenko, who was 3-1 in all matches played against Saint Louis in his career, suffered two setbacks on the courts. In singles, Leonenko dropped his first set in No. 4 singles to Eriksson, but battled back to win the second set in tiebreakers and force a decisive third set. Unfortunately, the Calgary, Canada, native couldn't pull through, losing 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4.
He also dropped his doubles match, as Billikens Jake Hendrie and Drew Feder trumped Leonenko and Mpilo Migogo, 8-5.
Migogo also lost in singles to similar fashion as his doubles partner. The senior dropped the first set, won the second in tiebreakers, but - much like Leonenko - fell in the final set to Ken Nordheim 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4.
The Saluki men will be back in action Saturday, March 27, when they head to the Bluegrass State to battle the Murray State Racers. The two squads will meet in Murray, Ky., for a 1 p.m. match.
Players Mentioned
