Rutherford Advances at ITA Regionals

Oct. 20, 2006

MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. - The Marquette men's tennis program continues to make enormous strides under the tenure of head coach Steve Rodecap. Today at the ITA Midwest Regionals, freshman Mark Rutherford earned himself second and third round singles victories, while the Golden Eagle's also advanced both doubles teams.

Rutherford defeated Eric Fey of the University of Illinois-Chicago in the round of 32, 6-2, 6-1. He then went on to overtake Austin Doerner of DePaul in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6. Rutherford will face Mikey Kantar in the quarterfinals of the qualifying draw. Eight players from the qualifying draw will advance to the main draw which begins tomorrow.

"For Mark to get through to the quarterfinals is obviously good for him," Coach Rodecap said. "He plays a really good player from Minnesota who will also have the advantage of playing on his home court. Mark knows it's going to be tough but he's very excited for the challenge."

Niko Boulieris earned himself a victory in the second round to Notre Dame's Santiago Montoya, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2.

"That was definitely a good win for Nick," Rodecap said. "Although he did not win his next match, he did a good job of coming here and putting himself in a position for the main draw."

Boulieris was unable to defeat Toledo's Mohammed Al Nahbani in the third round, losing 6-1, 7-5.

Stephen Shao met his match in the second round as he fell to Butler's Eric Breitenbach, 6-2, 6-2.

Shao turned it around in doubles as he paired up with Pete Van Lieshout to defeat Green Bay's Scott Dickert and Eric Hines, 8-4. Rutherford and partner Brett Binkley took down Cleveland State's Ryan Hamning and Phil Orno, 8-4.

"I feel like our program is starting to take some steps," said Rodecap. "We have good opportunities in doubles tomorrow and Mark has a good opportunity in singles. I'm very pleased with the play at this tournament."

-COMPLETE RESULTS-

Round of 32 Singles

Mark Rutherford (MU) def. Eric Fey (UIC) 6-2, 6-1
Niko Boulieris (MU) def. Santiago Montoya (ND) 6-3, 5-7, 6-2
Eric Breitenbach (BUT) def. Stephen Shao (MU) 6-2, 6-2

Round of 16 Singles

Mark Rutherford (MU) def. Austin Doerner (DP) 6-4, 7-6
Mohammed Al Nahbani (TOL) def. Niko Boulieris (MU) 6-1, 7-5

Round of 64 Doubles

Rutherford/Binkley (MU) def. Hamning/Orno (CSU) 8-4
Van Lieshout/Shao (MU) def. Dickert/Hines (GB) 8-4