Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Tennis tops Eastern Illinois, 5-2
04/11/2012 | 12:00:00 | Men's Tennis
April 11, 2012
By Tyler Wooten
SIUSalukis.com
CHARLESTON, Ill. -- The Southern Illinois men's tennis team bounced back from losing the doubles point to defeat Eastern Illinois 5-2 at the Rex Darling Courts in Charleston, Ill.
The Salukis (6-11, 0-1 MVC) snapped a four-match losing streak by dominating singles against the Panthers (3-12, 2-5 OVC), who only managed one singles win at the No. 4 position.
Leading the charge for the Salukis were upperclassmen Stanislas Rodier, Badr Cherradi and Brandon Florez, who each won at the top three positions.
Cherradi quickly won his first set against EIU's Warren Race, but fell down 4-1 in the next set. However, the junior native of Lyon, France, stormed back and forced an extra point to take the match from Race, 6-1, 7-5.
Rodier kept his recent singles success going against EIU's Michael Sperry, making quick work of him, 6-2, 6-1. Rodier has evened out to 7-7 on the dual match season with the victory and is 5-4 in his last 10 singles matches.
Also notching Saluki wins in singles were sophomore Rafael Cuadrillero (6-4, 6-0) and freshman Szymon Opieczonek (6-2, 6-0).
"It was a good challenge for us because we had to come out and make a statement in singles," said head coach Dann Nelson. "We won the first set in all six singles matches and I think it turned the momentum back in our favor, which is really good to see."
The Salukis return to Valley action this weekend at Creighton on Saturday and at No. 49 Drake on Sunday.
"I thought today's match gave us a lot of confidence heading into this weekend," Nelson said. "I know we have to get better at doubles, especially at the net. We need to have a good weekend as far as competing as a team like we've been doing."
Singles:
1. Badr Cherradi (SIU) def. RACE, Warren (EIU) 6-1, 7-5
2. Stanislas Rodier (SIU) def. SPERRY, Michael (EIU) 6-2, 6-1
3. Brandon Florez (SIU) def. HILGERT, Matyas (EIU) 6-3, 6-3
4. BAUMAN, Kevin (EIU) def. Orhan Spahic (SIU) 4-6, 6-3, 10-6
5. Rafael Cuadrillero (SIU) def. FIRTH, Jamie (EIU) 6-4, 6-0
6. Szymon Opieczonek (SIU) def. ZVERKOVSKY,Volodymyr (EIU) 6-2, 6-0
Doubles:
1. Stanislas Rodier/Brandon Florez (SIU) def. SPERRY, Michael/HILGERT, Matyas (EIU) 8-2
2. RACE, Warren/BAUMAN, Kevin (EIU) def. Orhan Spahic/Szymon Opieczonek (SIU) 9-7
3. FIRTH, Jamie/CONSTANTINESCU,David (EIU) def. Badr Cherradi/Jordan Snyder (SIU) 8-4
Players Mentioned
