Western Courier

Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Adam Sacasa Junior Zach Frisch competes with Neil Lasinski at No. 1 doubles Wednesday afternoon.

Media Credit: Adam Sacasa Junior Neil Lesinski forehands a return shot during Wednesday afternoon's match against Lewis University.

Juniors Zach Frisch and Neil Lesinski gave up no more than one game to Lewis University in their doubles and singles matches Wednesday, as the Western Illinois men's tennis team beat the Flyers 7-0.

After defeating Ben Karas and Doug Fritz 8-1 in No. 1 doubles, Frisch won at No. 1 singles (6-0, 6-1) and Lesinski took No. 2 singles (6-1, 6-0).

The Leathernecks are set to host four Summit League teams - IPFW, Centenary, South Dakota State and Oral Roberts - this weekend in a conference cluster, and having a non-conference match the Wednesday before only helps Western heading into the weekend.

"The idea is that it's difficult to simulate match intensity in practice," said coach Michael Hunt. "So, playing a match like this is just a better way to prepare."

The 'Necks swept the remainder of the singles and doubles matches without giving up a single point to Lewis. Freshman Francisco Ortiz and juniors Sean Ragee-Nelson and Andy Jones each won their singles matches 6-0, 6-0. The duo of senior Michael Tiu and junior Michael Schild beat Chris Meyer and Christian Nunez 8-0 at No. 2 doubles.

"The Lewis coach is a good friend of mine, and they have three guys that are ineligible right now," Hunt said. "It's not a lot of fun coming out and beating somebody that badly. You obviously want to win, and if you can beat somebody that badly and it be competitive, absolutely, we'd love to do that. But there's not a lot of joy in today."

Because Lewis only brought five players, senior Martin Boström was given a chance to rest his legs in preparation for this weekend's conference cluster.

"We want to rest him as much as we can," Hunt said. "His knees are pretty shot at this point, and any chance we can get to rest him is a good one."

The four matches this weekend are Western's final Summit opponents during the regular season. With a 2-0 conference mark (Oral Roberts 3-0), this weekend will make or break the 'Necks' chances at a regular-season title.

"That's our goal this year is to win a conference title," Hunt said. "We have two chances to do that: one with the regular season and then one with the tournament. We're going into this weekend thinking we have a conference championship on the line."

Western kicks off the weekend's competition Friday against IPFW at 2 p.m. There will be two matches Saturday, with the 'Necks taking on Centenary at 9 a.m. and South Dakota State at 2 p.m. Sunday's 9 a.m. match against Oral Roberts closes out the weekend.

As for the inclement weather forecasted for this weekend, Hunt said the matches could be moved to Galesburg if conditions are not favorable.

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