Creighton University
Southern Illinois
Southern Illinois Ends Men's Tennis Season, 4-3
4/23/2010 6:00:00 PM | Men's Tennis
WICHITA, Kan. - The Creighton's Men's Tennis team saw a marathon match end its season in heartbreaking fashion. Southern Illinois avenged an earlier 4-3 loss to Creighton, with a 4-3 win of its own in the first round of the State Farm MVC Tournament, Friday evening at the Crestview Country Club.
The duel started at 5 p.m., but continued well past 10. Southern Illinois took the lead at doubles, winning the No. 1 and 3 matches. J.T. Christian and Billy Paluch stomped Brandon Florez and Chikara Kidera, 8-1 at No. 1, before SIU came back with Mpilo Migogo and Falk De Beenhouwer's 8-5 win at No. 2 over Gabe Nagy and Kyle Obermeier.
The No. 3 doubles match was a thriller, but the Salukis came out on top. Anton Leonenko and Orhan Spahic prevailed over James McAvoy and Sean Mathison, 9-7 to take the 1-0 lead.
The Saluki's barely pulled out its three wins at singles, as Creighton stormed back with three wins of their own. The Jays got wins from Obermeier at No. 3, Nagy at No. 4 and Bryan Lube at No. 6.
Obermeier topped Florez 6-4, 6-4; Nagy downed Kidera 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 and Lube posted a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Spahic.
However, SIU's No. 1 and No. 2 stepped up to defeat Creighton's best. Migogo got past Paluch at No. 1 with a hard-fought, 0-6, 6-4, 6-3 win, and De Beenhouwer swept Christian at No. 2, 7-5, 6-4.
Leonenko would nab the last Saluki victory they would need, as he went the distance with McAvoy at No. 5, taking a 1-6, 6-0, 7-5 match for the win.
Creighton ends its season at 10-7, while Southern Illinois (7-12) advances to tomorrow's semifinal round against Illinois State.
Players Mentioned
