Box Score

            Valparaiso opened the home portion of its outdoor schedule on a cold and blustery Saturday afternoon at the Valparaiso Tennis Complex and dropped a 5-2 decision to Bradley, snapping the Crusaders’ two-match winning streak.

            Bradley (2-10) opened the match winning the doubles point with victories at the first and third spots.  The Braves’ Michel Macara and Wilder Sampson defeated Dan Brunette (Carmel, Ind./Lutheran H.S. of Indianapolis) and Kyle Stump (Plymouth, Ind./Plymouth H.S.) 8-4 at number three doubles before Evgeny Samoylov and Milos Romic downed Mike Shideler (Valparaiso, Ind./Munster H.S.) and Mike Wagner (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer H.S.) 9-7 at the top spot to take the first point.  Valpo’s Alex Lau (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson Senior H.S.) and Tom Litscher (Eau Claire, Wis./Memorial H.S.) topped Richard Robertson and Vuk Bolic 9-7 at the second slot.

            Samoylov defeated Shideler 6-1, 6-3 at number one singles and Bolic topped Wagner at the third spot 6-1, 6-3 to put the Braves in front 3-0.  Brunette and Stump helped get the Crusaders back in the match.  Brunette defeated Robertson 6-4, 6-2 at number five singles while Stump downed Sampson 7-6 (5), 6-1 at the bottom of the lineup to bring the Brown and Gold within one.  Romic clinched the match at number two singles though with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Lau and Macara downed Litscher 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 at the fourth spot.

            Valparaiso (2-8) will return to action on Sunday afternoon against Horizon League foe Youngstown State.  First serve is set for 12 p.m.