Feb. 24, 2012
NORFOLK, Va.- Old Dominion University men's tennis fought hard against No. 33 Memphis, but fell 5-2 Friday evening at the Folkes-Stevens Indoor Tennis Center. Carlos Lopez Villa and Alfredo Rodriguez picked up another doubles win for the Monarchs, but the team would fall to 5-7 on the season.
"Credit goes to the Memphis players, they competed well," head coach Aljosa Piric commented on the match. "I was happy to see our guys come out boldly in doubles. We had our opportunities to take the doubles point, but against good teams we have to stay poised in critical situations and execute a little better under pressure."
In doubles play, Wesley Barrett and Can Cetinel were defeated in a close one by David Henry and Connor Glennon 8-6. Krzysztof Muzalewski and Fahoum Fahoum also lost a hard fought match to David O' Hare and Joe Salisbury 9-7.
Wesley Barrett dropped a tough match at No. 3 singles to Johnny Grimal who only has one loss on the season.
Glennon, who is undefeated on the season, defeated Rodriguez in straight sets at No. 4 singles.
Carlos Lopez Villa came up big at No. 2 singles to topple Joe Salisbury in straight sets, 7-6, 6-4.
David O'Leary halted the Monarch's chances by defeating Fahoum in straight sets at No. 5 singles 6-4, 6-0.
Krzysztof Muzalewski beat the No. 114 player in the country David O'Hare in three grueling sets.
Can Cetinel won his first set, but was unable to claim another set and lost to Leon Nasemann 6-7, 6-1, and 10-5 in the tiebreaker.
"Krzysztof and Carlos came out with purpose and earned wins against good No. 1 and No. 2 singles players from Memphis, and at No. 6 singles Can fought hard but came up just short," Piric said about the final matches of the day. "We need to keep building and we wil use this loss as a learning tool to help us keep improving."
The Monarchs travel to Richmond to do battle with VCU Sunday, February 26, at 1 p.m. The next home match for the Monarchs is on March 4, versus Navy.
BOX SCORE:
ODU 2
MEM 5
Doubles:
David O' Hare/ Joe Salisbury over Krzysztof Muzalewski/ Fahoum Fahoum, 9-7
David Henry/ Connor Glennon over Wesley Barrett/ Can Cetinel, 8-6
Alfredo Rodriguez/ Carlos Lopez-Villa over Len Nasemann/ Johnny Grimal, 6-5 (ret.)
Singles:
Krzysztof Muzalewski over David O'Hare, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3
Carlos Lopez-Villa over Joe Salisbury, 7-6, 6-4
Johnny Grimal over Wesley Barrett, 6-0, 6-2
Connor Glennon over Alfredo Rodriguez, 6-4, 6-3
David O'Leary over Fahoum Fahoum, 6-4, 6-0
Leon Nasemann over Can Cetinel, 6-7, 6-1, 10-5
Order of Finish:
Doubles: 2, 1, 3
Singles: 3, 4, 2, 5, 1, 6