Saturday, April 12, 2008

Box Score

            Valparaiso’s men’s tennis team came up just short on Saturday afternoon against Wright State, dropping a 4-3 decision to the Raiders at Matchpoint Tennis Club in match that had to be moved indoors due to the rain.

            Wright State (1-16, 1-3 Horizon League) struck first in doubles, winning what would prove to be an all important point.  Valpo’s Dan Brunette (Carmel, Ind./Lutheran H.S. of Indianapolis) and Kyle Stump (Plymouth, Ind./Plymouth H.S.) won their third doubles match against Brett Stewart and Brad Krick 8-1 to start the match.  The Raiders answered with a win at number one as Jan Alafriz and Nick Camileri downed Mike Shideler (Valparaiso, Ind./Munster H.S.) and Mike Wagner (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer H.S.) 8-3.  In the decisive second doubles, Wright State came out on top in a tie-break 7-5 as Pip Rehg and Tony Teufel defeated Alex Lau (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson Senior H.S.) and Tom Litscher (Eau Claire, Wis./Memorial H.S.) 9-8 (5).

            The Raiders increased the lead to 2-0 as Alafriz downed Litscher 6-1, 6-0 at fourth singles before Brunette defeated Krick by the same score at the fifth spot to pull the Crusaders within one.  Camileri defeated Shideler 6-1, 6-2 at the second slot in the lineup but Valpo stayed alive in the match as Wagner topped Rehg 7-6 (5), 6-3 at number four.  The Raiders clinched the match as Teufel defeated Lau 6-1, 6-3 at the top of the order before Valpo’s Stump won in three sets 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 against Stewart.

            “We didn’t play well overall today,” head coach Jim Daugherty said.  “I thought we did everything we could to prepare but we just didn’t get it done.”

            Valparaiso (3-10, 1-3) will return to action at Chicago State on Monday afternoon. First serve in the Windy City is set for 3 p.m.