Bills Claim Fifth Place With Dramatic Win
April 6, 2008 MONROEVILLE, Pa. - Saint Louis men's tennis continued its steady ascension in the Atlantic 10 Conference on Sunday, earning a thrilling 4-3 victory over Duquesne to finish fifth at the A-10 Championship at Club 4 Life. The 10th-seeded Billikens, who placed 10th in their first A-10 Championship two years ago and seventh last season, defeated three higher-seeded opponents en route to fifth place. SLU downed No. 7 Saint Joseph's in the first round and, after falling to Xavier in the championship quarterfinals, defeated No. 6 Richmond and No. 4 Duquesne in the consolation round. In addition, the Bills (11-10) finished above .500 for the first time since the 1996-97 season and registered a double-digit victory total for the first time since the 2002-03 campaign. The win over Duquesne gave SLU a 6-2 record this season in matches decided by a 4-3 score. In Sunday's match, five of the six singles contests were decided by a super-tiebreaker. The Billikens won four of those, needing every victory after Duquesne captured the doubles point. Junior Sean McManus (Berryton, Kan. / Hayden) turned in perhaps the Bills' most impressive performance in singles play. McManus dropped the first set in his No. 3 match against Zach Skorupka but rebounded for a 4-6, 6-4 (10-7) win. Seniors Felipe Acosta (Bogota, Colombia / Colegio Andino) and Paul Feder (Belleville, Ill. / Belleville East) concluded their SLU careers with singles triumphs. Acosta was a 6-4, 2-6 (10-7) winner over Michael Ortega at No. 1, while Feder nipped Gustavo Villares 6-3, 5-7 (10-8) at No. 5. Sophomore P.J. Hendrie (New Braunfels, Texas / New Braunfels) was dominant in his super-tiebreaker against Jeremy McClelland at No. 2 and posted a 7-6, 3-6 (10-2) victory. Elsewhere in singles action, Mark Maciuch defeated sophomore Sam McSpadden (Little Rock, Ark. / East Carolina Univ.) 6-4, 6-2 at No. 4, and Steve Herchko rallied past junior Matt Gordon (Ballwin, Mo. / Lafayette) 6-1, 3-6 (10-6) at No. 6.
In doubles play, Skorupka and Maciuch edged Hendrie and McManus 8-6 at No. 2, and McClelland teamed with Herchko for an 8-5 win over senior Marcus Fadul (Campinas, Brazil / Lindenwood Univ.) and junior Adam Reeb (Belleville, Ill. / Althoff Catholic) at No. 3. Feder and Gordon led Ortega and Mikhael Rasner 7-6 when their No. 1 tilt was halted. |
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