Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Tennis defeats Chicago State, 5-1
03/23/2012 | 12:00:00 | Men's Tennis
March 23, 2012
By Tyler Wooten
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois men's tennis team toppled Chicago State 5-1 on Friday at Sports Blast, improving to 4-6 on the dual match season.
Doubles weren't played, but the Salukis (4-6, 0-0 MVC) didn't lose a beat in singles, only losing three sets and one match all day. The lone victory for the Cougars (0-15, 0-1 MAC) was only their fifth match point of the entire season in the midst of a three year, 58 match losing streak dating back to 2009, but the Salukis easily dominated in every other aspect of the match.
Junior Brandon Florez, making his first appearance at No. 1 singles since his freshman season, defeated CSU's Mario Naboa, 7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-1.
At Nos. 3 through 6, the Salukis yielded only 12 games to the Cougars in eight sets, blanking the Cougars out in three of them. Juniors Orhan Spahic (6-2, 6-4 at No. 3) and Jordan Snyder (6-0, 6-0 at No. 6), sophomore Rafael Cuadrillero (6-1, 6-4 at No. 4) and freshman Szymon Opieczonek (6-1, 6-0 at No. 5) claimed the remainder of the Saluki victories.
"We were able to play some guys that don't normally play," said head coach Dann Nelson. "We really just tried to take care of business, and for the most part we did that."
In attendance to show their support for Saluki tennis were the swimming and diving team and head coach Rick Walker.
"We want to thank swimming and diving for their support at today's match. It was great to see all the fans there that were able to take in a victory."
The Salukis host junior college Vincennes University tomorrow at 2 p.m. in the hopes of revenging last year's heartbreaking 4-3 loss to the Trailblazers, who are currently ranked No. 3 in the JUCO standings.
Singles:
1. Brandon Florez (SIU) def. Mario Naboa (CSU) 7-6 (10-7), 4-6, 6-1
2. Sergiu Muresan (CSU) def. Martijn Admiraal (SIU) 6-4, 7-5
3. Orhan Spahic (SIU) def. Julian Chavez (CSU) 6-2, 6-4
4. Rafael Cuadrillero (SIU) def. Rashley Yeremia (CSU) 6-1, 6-4
5. Szymon Opieczonek (SIU) def. Luis Ulloa (CSU) 6-1, 6-0
6. Jordan Snyder (SIU) def. Samuel McKinney (CSU) 6-0, 6-0
Players Mentioned
