Western Courier

Issue date: 4/16/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Adam Sacasa Junior Zach Frisch went 3-1 at No. 1 singles over the weekend.

The Western Illinois men's tennis team won the Summit League regular-season championship by rallying for a 4-3 win over Oral Roberts Sunday, capping off an 4-0 record at the conference cluster.

"I'm really proud of these guys for battling back," said coach Michael Hunt. "This team has a lot of fight in them and it showed today. Now it's time to start prepping for the league tournament."

The Leathernecks (13-5, 6-0 Summit) increased their winning streak to nine with a 4-3 win over the Golden Eagles (5-9, 5-1 Summit).

Playing the singles matches first, Western fell behind 3-1 to the defending conference champions after only junior Sean Ragee-Nelson won three out of the first four matches. The Decatur native defeated Clemons Geercken at the No. 5 singles position, 6-3, 6-4.

Senior Martin Boström and junior Andy Jones won at No. 2 and No. 6 singles, respectively, to level the match at 3-3. Boström defeated Alexander Dargel, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5), and Jones beat Dario Beslic, 6-3, 7-6 (8).

The match then turned to doubles play to determine the conference regular-season championship. Juniors Michael Schild and Michael Tiu got Western off to a good start with an 8-1 victory over Cuan Farquharson and Dennis Troyke at No. 3 doubles.

With both the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles team having match point at the same time, juniors Zach Frisch and Neil Lesinski defeated Dargel and Oleksandr Kotsuik, 8-5, at No. 1 doubles.

The Leathernecks began the weekend with a 4-0 win over IPFW (10-14, 2-4 Summit), Friday, April 11. Frisch defeated Nabil Mourad Filho, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 1 singles. Boström beat Carlos Gonzalez at the No. 2 singles position, 6-3, 6-2. Western also got singles win from Ragee-Nelson (No. 5, 6-2, 6-0) and Jones (No. 6, 7-6 (5), 6-1).

Saturday, April 12, featured two wins for the Leathernecks over Centenary (2-13, 0-6 Summit) and South Dakota State (5-12, 1-5 Summit). Western beat the Gents, 4-0, with singles wins from the top four spots in the line-up. Frisch defeated Mark Rodgman at No. 1 singles, 6-1, 6-3; Lesinski beat Carlos Gonzalez, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 2 singles; freshman Francisco Ortiz beat Oscar Medellin at No. 3 singles, 6-3, 6-1; and Ragee-Nelson beat Gerardo Lozano, 6-2, 6-0.

Against the Jackrabbits, Western swept all six singles matches, along with all three doubles matches. Frisch and Tiu allowed only a game in their wins at No. 1 singles and No. 6 singles, respectively. Boström (No. 2), Lesinski (No. 3), Ortiz (No. 4) and Ragee-Nelson (No. 5) also won for the Leathernecks.

In doubles play, Frisch and Lesinski beat Michael Engdahl and Corey Paluch, 9-8 (5), at No. 1 doubles. Boström and Ragee-Nelson defeated Brian Hylle and Steve Grantz at No. 2 doubles, 8-4. Schild and Tiu beat Cody Malik and Wade Kippley, 8-1, at No. 3 doubles.

- Western Illinois University
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