Tennis Championship Page
Women's Tennis
The 2007 Men's and Women's Horizon League Tennis Championships got underway Saturday morning as the top four seeds on the women's bracket picked up match wins in the early morning rounds.
Defending champion University of Illinois at Chicago defeated No. 8 Wright State University in the first match of the day, 4-0, while the No. 2 seed Butler University overcame injury-riddled Youngstown State University by the same score. Cleveland State University picked up a 4-0 win over No. 5 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and the University of Detroit Mercy took four singles spot to overcome the loss at doubles to defeat University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
In women's afternoon action, UIC advanced to their twelfth consecutive championship match with a 4-0 victory over Cleveland State. The Flames took the doubles point, then grabbed victories in the No. 3-5 singles positions for the win.
In the other semifinal, Butler defeated Detroit 4-2 to advance to their eighth championship match in the last nine seasons. Horizon League Newcomer of the Year Molly Casperson took three sets to defeat Annie Moore at the top spot, while Tiffany McLoughlin and Becky Jenkins also picked up victories at No.2 and No. 4 respectively.
In the women's consolation bracket, Youngstown State defeated UW-Green Bay 4-3, while UW-Milwaukee defeated Wright State 4-1.
Tomorrow's women's action includes the fifth-place match between Youngstown State and UW-Milwaukee and the third-place contest between Cleveland State and Detroit. Those matches begin at 9 a.m., while the women's championship game between Butler and UIC begins at 10:15 a.m. Sunday morning.
Men's Tennis
The men's tournament kicked off with a close match between No 3. UIC and No. 6 Youngstown State. The Penguins stole the doubles point and a win at the No. 3 singles position, but Second-Team All-League selection Scott Kathary fell in three sets at the No. 1 spot to Sebastian Lystad and Maurice Rucker couldn't capitalize on six match points in the final singles spot against Tim O'Brien.
In the other opening round men's match, the Wright State Raiders defeated UW-Green Bay 4-1. WSU used wins from All-League selections Lance Koetter and Tony Teufel, plus Craig Smith at No. 5 and the doubles point to defeat the Phoenix and move on to face defending champion Butler.
The men's semi-finals highlighted the afternoon action, with Butler holding off a strong challenge from Wright State to return to the championship match again this year. Evan West and Sandy Berry each rallied from one set to take the No. 3 and No. 5 singles spots, while Horizon League Player of the Year James Low held off a strong charge from Lance Koetter to win at No. 1 7-5, 7-6(1).
UIC defeated Cleveland State 4-2 to earn the right to face the Bulldogs in the title contest, a repeat of last year's championship. The Flames took wins at the No.2, 4 and 6 singles spots and earned the point at doubles from the Vikings who had only surrendered the doubles point seven times this season.
In the final match of the day, UW-Green Bay suffered a loss at doubles, plus a change of venue before defeating Youngstown State 4-1 to earn fifth place. The match between the Phoenix and Penguins was suspended due to darkness at the North Central Tennis Courts and resumed only after relocating to the Butler Indoor Courts.
In tomorrow's men's action, Cleveland State will take on Wright State in the third-place match at 9:00 am., while the men's championship match gets underway at 10:15 a.m.
