Marquette University
USF (BIG EAST Championships)
Men's Tennis Loses 4-1 to USF
4/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 23, 2006
TAMPA, Fl. - After losing the doubles point, the Marquette men's tennis team could not recover against the University of South Florida, losing 4-1 in the third place match-up at the BIG EAST Championships.
In their final match of the season, seniors Eigis Vedrickas and Ian Kawas competed tough against USF's Dillon Brozyna and Marc Jaeger at no. 1 but fell short, losing, 8-6. Brett Binkley and Pete Van Lieshout were outplayed by Federico Barton and Juan Barragan at no. 2, 8-2.
"We didn't play good doubles and that kind of set the tone," said head coach Steve Rodecap. "In singles I thought we picked it up. We got beat at one and two and won at six fairly quickly. Shao and Trent were both in close matches when the meet was called and Brett lost in a tiebreaker in the second set. All those matches could have gone either way. The first time we played them things went our way and this time things went their way."
The lone Golden Eagle point came when Eric Fleming defeated Raj Shah at no. 6, 6-3, 6-0.
"This was our seniors' last match and the outcome wasn't what they wanted," Rodecap said. "They particularly didn't play their best tennis today but those two (Vedrickas and Kawas) have come along way over the past three years and have a meant a lot to our program. It's sad to see them go."
Marquette saw big improvements this season, finishing with a 16-10 dual match record, 5-3 in the BIG EAST and finishing 4th place in the BIG EAST. They entered the tournament seeded third, the highest seed any Golden Eagle team has received in Coach Rodecap's era.
"We feel good about the team we have returning next year," Rodecap added. "We are very young and the guys have been doing a good job for us all season. They see the level it's going to take to win the league and will work hard for it."
The Louisville Cardinals defeated Notre Dame for the men's BIG EAST Championship match.
-COMPLETE RESULTS-
Doubles
1. Brozyna/ Jaeger (USF) def. Vedrickas/Kawas (MU) 8-6 *
2. Barton/Barragan (USF) def. Binkley/Van Lieshout (MU) 8-2
3. Hagan/Shao (MU) vs. Default
Singles
1. Federico Barton (USF) def. Elgis Vedrickas (MU) 6-1, 6-0
2. Marc Jaeger (USF) vs. Trent Hagan (MU) 6-2, 5-7, 1-1 DNF
3. Juan Barragan (USF) def. Ian Kawas (MU) 6-1, 6-4
4. Dillon Brozyna (USF) vs. Stephen Shao (MU) 7-6 (4) 6-6 DNF
5. Mark Gattiker (USF) def. Brett Binkley (MU) 7-5, 7-6 (3) *
6. Eric Fleming (MU) def. Raj Shah (USF) 6-3, 6-0
* Clinching Match
Players Mentioned
