Southern Illinois University
McKendree
Salukis roll past McKendree for seventh-straight win
02/28/2016 | 12:00:00 | Men's Tennis
Tony McDaniel
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill.—SIU men's tennis (7-1) defeated McKendree (5-8), 7-0, on Sunday to earn the team's seventh-straight win and third-straight shutout.
The Salukis got rolling in doubles play with 6-2 wins at No. 1 and No. 3 singles. In No. 1 doubles, Jonny Rigby and Piotr Baranski improved to 4-0 as a duo with their victory.
In singles play, Division II McKendree failed to win any matches, but made the Salukis work for every point. At No. 2 singles, Wilder Pimentel beat Alex Alvarez 6-1, 6-0 in one of the few easy matches on the day. Head coach Dann Nelson said Pimentel played an amazing match and is showing a lot of confidence right now. He is 7-1 in singles matches this season.
In Rigby's match at No. 1 singles he easily took the first set, but struggled some in the second before earning a 6-0, 6-4 victory.
"Jonny was up 6-0, 3-0 and missed an easy ball and allowed his opponent to get more confidence, but then he crept in and ended up winning 6-4," Nelson said.
It was Baranski that clinched the win for SIU for the second straight match. Baranski won the first set of his match against Maico Egbers, 6-1. In the second set Egbers took an early lead and forced Baranski to earn a 7-5 come-from-behind win.
The closest match of the day came after SIU had already earned the victory. At No. 5 singles, Peter Molloy lost his first set to Abel Moreno, 6-3. Molloy fought back in the second set, winning 6-4 and forcing a tiebreaker. Molloy outlasted his opponent in the decisive third set to earn the seventh and final point of the day for the Salukis.
"Winning in a tiebreaker is big, and Pete's done that once or twice already this semester. It shows that he has a lot of confidence going into a 10-point tiebreaker," Nelson said.
SIU's seventh win of the season helps keep them atop of the Missouri Valley Conference as the only one-loss team. This is the first time SIU has won three consecutive shutouts since Dick LeFevre's team did it in 1967. That year the Salukis finished as the 20th ranked team in the nation.
As for the Salukis' seven-match win streak, it is the first time the team has done it since 2009 when the Salukis finished the season with eight-straight wins and won the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. The win streak came to an end that year against USC in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The longest win streak in SIU history is 37 straight wins and was amassed over three seasons from 1963 to 1965.
Next, the Salukis embark on an eight-match road trip that will begin against Lipscomb on March 5.
Match Results
Doubles:
Rigby/Baranski def. Muller/Alvarez 6-2
Pozo/Pimentel vs. Monero McCafferty unfinished (SIU led 4-2)
Martinez/Molloy def. Price/Egbers 6-2
Singles:
Jonny Rigby def. Ben Muller 6-0, 6-4
Wilder Pimentel def. Alex Alvarez 6-1, 6-0
Piotr Baranski def. Maico Egbers 7-1, 7-5
Peter Molloy def. Abel Monero 3-6, 6-4, 10-4
Alex Pozo def. Ross Price 6-2, 6-2
Daniel Martinez def. Anwesh Roy 6-3, 6-4
Players Mentioned
