Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
SIU Fall Classic (EIU)
Salukis sweep SIU Fall Classic
10/25/2015 | 12:00:00 | Men's Tennis
Tony McDaniel
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill.-- SIU head coach Dann Nelson said he wanted his team to end the fall with a bang; the Salukis did just that on Sunday. Southern went 15-0 against Eastern Illinois in the SIU Fall Classic to cap off what has been an incredible fall season.
"The guys really showed up today and did a great job," Nelson said. "We played this same event with Eastern last year and won 60 percent of the matches and lost 40 percent. To sweep one year later shows how hard the guys are working and how prepared they are."
The SIU Fall Classic opened with doubles play and the Salukis took all three matches. Once again the No. 1 doubles team led SIU. Senior Jonny Rigby and junior Michal Kianicka defeated the Eastern Illinois duo of Robert Skolik and Rui Silva, 8-3. Rigby and Kianicka finished the season 7-2 in doubles matches. The duo also took home the Flight A doubles crown from the Purdue Fall Invitational on Sep. 27.
In singles play SIU finished 12-0 and only dropped one set throughout the day. The closest match of the tournament was sophomore Alex Pozo's second round match against Ognjen Jevtic. Pozo took the first set, 6-3, but Jevtic fought back to take the second set, 3-6. The tiebreaker was all Pozo, as he defeated Eastern Illinois's freshman 10-2 to take the match.
"Sometimes when things aren't working you can think everything is tough, but you can turn it around" Nelson said. "Alex showed us that he can turn it around into a direction for the better."
Sophomore Peter Molloy capped off what has been a tremendous fall season with two wins today. Molloy defeated Jevtic in the first round, 6-1, 6-3, and Trent Reiman in the second round, 6-1, 7-5. Molloy finished the fall season with a 9-3 record; a large improvement over his 2-1 mark in 2014's fall season. The only player with a better record than Molloy was Kianicka who finished 9-2.
Nelson said playing in front of the home fans and the players' friends and family members helped the team to the sweep of the SIU Fall Classic.
The Salukis' fall has been one of the best ever. The team finished 72-33 overall throughout the fall season, the best overall record since 2005.
"It all started at the Purdue tournament. We came out of the blocks really well," Nelson said. "They were focused, and we seemed like we were really ready. As they continued to improve and continued to work hard the results started coming. I'm impressed with my guys right now."
The Salukis will be back on the court on Jan. 16, 2016 when the dual match season begins against Eastern Kentucky in Knoxville, Tenn.
Doubles results
Rigby/Kianicka def. Silva/Skolik 8-3
Pozo/Pimentel def. Jevtic/Henderson 8-2
Martinez/Molloy def. Reiman/Woodson 8-4
Singles results
Round 1:
Rigby def. Skolik 6-2, 6-1
Kianicka def. Henderson 6-0, 6-1
Pimentel def. Silva 6-3, 6-3
Molloy def. Jevtic 6-1, 6-3
Pozo def. Reiman 6-3, 6-0
Martinez def. Woodson 7-5, 6-1
Round 2: Rigby def. Silva 6-1, 6-3
Kianicka def. Skolic 6-3, 6-2
Pimentel def. Henderson 7-5, 6-2
Molloy def. Reiman 6-1, 7-5
Pozo def. Jevtic 6-3, 3-6, 10-2
Martinez def. Wendell 6-0, 6-0
Players Mentioned
