Sunday, April 11, 2004

Valparaiso clinched a berth in next weekend's Mid-Continent Conference Tournament with a 7-0 victory over Centenary on Sunday morning at Portage High School.

The Crusaders opened with a win in the doubles point as Ben Dunham-Freer (Fort Thomas, Ky./Highlands H.S.) and Jeff Vrabel (Allen Park, Mich./St. Francis Cabrini H.S.) notched an 8-2 win at first doubles, while Jay Adams (Detroit, Mich./Andover H.S.) and Evan Roller (Canton, Mich./Plymouth Salem H.S.) were victorious 8-4 at the third spot.

Roller then breezed to a 6-0, 6-0 victory at sixth singles for the Brown and Gold's second point, while Dunham-Freer secured the third with a 6-0, 6-1 triumph. Vrabel posted a 6-0, 6-0 win at the fourth spot to sew up the match for the Crusaders and cap off a perfect Mid-Con season for the senior, going 6-0 in league play. Nic Kooyers (Holland, Mich./Holland H.S.) was a 6-2, 6-0 winner at second singles, while Adams notched a 7-6 (5), 6-1 win at fifth singles. Joe Venegas (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North H.S.) capped off the sweep with a 4-6, 6-2, 12-10 victory.

With the win, Valpo moves to 6-14 overall, 3-3 in the Mid-Con. Centenary falls to 2-12, 1-5. Western Illinois defeated Oral Roberts 5-2 in the other match at the Valpo cluster.

Valparaiso will conclude the regular season on Tuesday afternoon with a 2 p.m. CDT match at Kalamazoo.