Saturday, October 07, 2006

Alex Lau (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson Senior H.S.) finished runner-up in the C Flight as the Crusaders closed out the inaugural Valpo Fall Classic on Saturday at the Valparaiso University Tennis Complex.

The day opened with the final round of doubles, where just one Crusader team posted a victory in the morning. Mike Shideler (Valparaiso, Ind./Munster H.S.) and David Bukowski (Mount Prospect, Ill./Prospect H.S.) notched an 8-3 victory over Dean Guyer and Greg Fallowfield of IUPUI to capture the title in the back draw of the B Flight.

Mike Wagner (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer H.S.) and Lau fell in the championship match of the C Flight 8-5 to UW-Green Bay. Tom Litscher (Eau Claire, Wis./Memorial H.S.) teamed with UW-Green Bay's Matt Keesey to win 8-2 to take home third place.

As singles began, the C Flight proved to be the most fruitful for the Brown and Gold. Lau posted a pair of wins, 6-0, 6-0 against Youngstown State and 6-2, 6-4 against UW-Green Bay to advance to face Matt Clegg of UWGB. He dropped the championship 6-1, 6-3. Litscher also advanced to the semifinals before bowing out to Clegg as well. He notched a 7-6 (5), 4-6, 10-7 win over IUPUI in the quarterfinals.

Nic Kooyers (Holland, Mich./Holland H.S.) advanced to the semifinals with a 6-2, 6-7 (3), 10-8 win over UWGB in the quarterfinals. In the B Flight, Bukowski advanced to the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-0 win in the quarters against IPFW before falling 6-0, 6-4. Wagner also won a match in the A Flight back draw, 6-4, 6-1, against an opponent from IUPUI.

Several Crusaders will compete in the ITA Midwest Regional Championships held in Ann Arbor, Mich. October 19-22 as Valpo closes the fall season.