Binkley & Rutherford Fall In Semis At Texas

Nov. 4, 2007

Austin, Texas - Marquette University's doubles tandem of Brett Binkley and Mark Rutherford wrapped up play at the 2007 Texas Invitational Sunday afternoon, falling just short in its bid for an appearance in the finals of the main draw.

Binkley and Rutherford dropped a hard-fought 8-6 decision to the top-seeded squad of Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala of Texas. The Longhorn duo is currently ranked fourth in the nation.

"We played a good match, but not a great match," head coach Steve Rodecap said. "Our guys are obviously disappointed, but it was a very successful weekend."

Binkley and Rutherford posted a pair of impressive victories on Saturday to advance in the main draw, earning victories over squads from Arizona State and Texas A&M and dropped a total of just seven games in its first four matchups.

Junior Stephen Shao saw his main draw singles action come to an end Saturday morning following a 6-2, 6-0 loss to Kutrovsky of Texas in the round of 16. Kutrovsky, the No. 1 seed in the main draw, was one of three members of the Texas squad to defeat the MU representatives. Binkley and Rutherford also fell in singles action to Longhorn competitors.