March 13, 2008

FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State Men's Tennis team played in the first round of the Blue Gray Classic against No. 19 VCU, the Bulldogs fought hard, but fell 4-1. The 'Dogs entered the tournament with enthusiasm and will continue to show their commitment throughout the weekend.

"It was a tight match and a good battle, the doubles point was key, if we had focused more we could have won it," head coach Jay Udwadia said.

Playing at the No. 2 spot in doubles, Denny Fafek and Tejesvi Veerepalli won their match, defeating Thibaut Charron and Martin Schulhauser, 8-4. The victory was the first and only doubles win for Fresno State.

Playing at the No. 3 spot in doubles, Taylor Leiby and A.J. Kerin battled in their match against Bobo Delemark and Stepan Siska, but fell 8-9 in a tiebreaker.

Junior Rudolf Siwy played at the No. 1 spot for singles and won his match against Martin Schulhauser, 7-6, 6-3. Siwy is now 17-6 overall and 10-2 in dual in single matches.

"We had close matches in singles, but we have to move forward tomorrow as we play another top ranked team," Udwadia said.

The Bulldogs will continue to play in the Blue Gray Classic with a match Friday at 8:30 a.m. in Montgomery, Ala. against Wisconsin.

NCAA Men's Tennis
Blue Gray Classic
Montgomery Alabama
March 13, 2008

No. 19 VCU def. No. 48 Fresno State, 4-1

Doubles (VCU wins doubles point)
1) Lindgren/Ripoll (VCU) def. Siwy/Zapletal (FS), 8-6
2) Fafek/Veerepalli (FS) def. Charron/Schullhauser (TCU), 8-4
3) Delemark/Siske (VCU) def. Kerin/Leiby (FS), 8-9
Order of completion: N/A

Singles
1) Rudolf Siwy (FS) def. Martin Schullhauser (VCU), 7-6, 6-3
2) Damien Lacombe (VCU) def. No. 99 Mirko Zapletal (FS), 7-6, 6-1
3) Thibaut Charron (VCU) def. Tejesvi Veerepalli (FS), 1-6, 6-2, 1-6
4) Emil Lindgren (VCU) def. Denny Fafek (FS), 7-6, 6-3
5) Martin Nilsson (FS) vs. Georges-Alexandre Israel (VCU), 1-6, 6-4 DNF
6) Siddharth Alapati (FS) vs. Bobo Delemark (VCU), 6-4, 2-3 DNF
Order of completion: N/A

Records: Fresno State (9-4), VCU (12-3)