Horizon League Tennis Championships: Day 2

 Tennis Championship Page 

Another year, same story.  The Butler University Bulldogs claimed their sixth consecutive Horizon League Men's Tennis Championships on Sunday, while the University of Illinois at Chicago women captured their 11^th consecutive title.

All-League honorees James Low, Evan West and Eric Breitenbach picked up two victories apiece as Butler defeated UIC 4-0 to win their ninth title in the last 10 years.  Low, the 2007 Horizon League Player of the Year, defeated Sebastian Lystad 6-3, 6-2 at No. 1 singles and earned a doubles victory over Lystad and Andy Lockhart with partner Ben Raynauld, while Breitenbach was victorious at the second singles and doubles spots, and West claimed wins at No. 3 singles and doubles.  With the win, Butler was awarded the League's automatic berth to the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship.

In the closest title match since 2002, the UIC women held off the Bulldogs 4-3.  After Butler's Molly Casperson defeated Player of the Year Callan Smith at No. 1 singles to square things at 3-3, UIC junior transfer Lubica Nadasska climbed back from three down in the third set to defeat Tiffany McLoughlin at No. 2 singles and pick the deciding point of the match.  With the win, UIC earns the Horizon League's automatic berth to the 2007 NCAA Women's Tennis Championships.

Cleveland State University took third place on both the men's and women's sides, with the men holding off Wright State University 4-2 and the women defeating the University of Detroit Mercy 4-1.  The Vikings picked up victories at the No. 3-5 singles spots, plus the doubles point to take down the Titans, who were without the services of Second-Team All-League selection Annie Moore, who was injured in yesterday's semifinal against Butler.  CSU senior Sarah Galon finished her outstanding career with the Vikings with a "did not finish" at No. 1 singles against Svetlana Flankova who was replacing the injured Moore.

For the first time all season, the Viking men lost the doubles point but prevailed in the match, relying on wins at the Nos. 2-5 singles spots.  Senior Dan Singer ended his career at CSU on a high note, defeating Brian Butt at No. 4 singles 7-5, 6-0.

In the women's fifth-place, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee defeated Youngstown State University 4-1.   The Panthers took the doubles point and No. 3, 5, and 6 singles positions to defeat a Penguin squad that featured only four players due to several injuries.  With the win, UWM scored its best tournament finish since 1998, when the Panthers lost in the semifinals to UIC.  The two wins on the weekend also earned the squad a new Division I school record for single season victories with 13.

All matches played at North Central High School, Indianapolis, Indiana

Women's Fifth-Place Match: UW-Milwaukee 4, Youngstown State 1

No 1. Gina Peretti def. Kelly Drvaric 6-4, 6-3

No 2. Kari Kastenholz & Tanisha Welch DNF

No 3. Ali O'Neal def. Kelly Culbertson 6-4, 6-2

No 4. Lauren Fenley & Irena Lanc DNF
No 5. Traci Litscher wins by default

No 6. Elizbeth Angel wins by default

No 1. Kastenholz/O'Neal & Welch/Culbertson DNF

No 2. Drvaric/Litscher def. Peretti/Lanc 8-5

No 3. UWM wins by default

Women's Third-Place Match: Cleveland State 4, Detroit 1

No 1. Sarah Galon & Svetlana Flankova DNF

No 2. Aneta Maricevic def. Charlotte Gibbons 6-1, 6-0

No 3. Denisa Muntean def. Stephanie Hill 6-0, 3-6, 6-0

No 4. Jenn Myers def. Ingrid Stensvaag 6-2, 6-0

No 5. Lindsay Sellers def. Kelly Davis 6-3, 7-6(2)

No 6. Amy Inman & Kristin Chamberlain DNF

No 1. Davis/Flankova (UDM) & Galon/Muntean (CSU) DNF

No 2. Gibbons/Sellers (CSU) def. Maricevic/Hill (UDM) 8-1

No 3. Myers/Chamberlain (CSU) def. Inman/Stensvaag (UDM) 8-2

Men's Third-Place Match: Cleveland State 4, Wright State 2

No 1. Phil Orno & Lance Koetter DNF

No 2. Brad Groleski def. Tony Teuful 6-2, 7-6(3)

No 3. Ryan Hamning def. Nick Camilleri 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-3

No 4. Dan Singer def. Brian Butt 7-5, 6-0

No 5. Rob West def. Craig Smith 6-3, 6-3

No 6. Ted Dahmus def. Steven Wipprecht 6-2, 3-6, 6-3

No 1. Koetter/Camilleri def.Orno/Hamning 8-5

No 2. Teufel/Smith def. West/Wipprecht 8-6

No 3. Groleski/Singer def. Butt/Sundersingh 8-5

Women's Championship Match: UIC 4, Butler 3

No 1. Molly Casperson def. Callan Smith 6-4, 2-6, 6-3

No 2. Lubica Nadasska def. Tiffany McLoughlin 2-6, 6-4, 6-3

No 3. Grace Gill Morlis def. Michelle Hawes 6-2, 6-1

No 4. Becky Jenkins def. Christina Oum 6-3, 6-3

No 5. Chelsey Casperson def. Jenna Reisch 6-2, 6-4

No 6. Amy Jellish def. Carrie Rachon 6-1, 6-0

No 1. Smith/Gill-Morlis (UIC) def. McLoughlin/Hawes 8-1

No 2. M. Casperson/Jenkins (BU) & Nadasska/Von Ubisch DNF

No 3. Oum/Reisch (UIC) def. C. Casperson/Rachon 8-2

Men's Championship Match: Butler 4, UIC 0

No 1. James Low def. Sebastian Lystad 6-3, 6-2

No 2. Eric Breitenbach def. Bastian Harbo 6-4, 6-1

No 3. Evan West def. Adriano Liccardo 6-2, 6-1

No 4. Ben Raynauld & Eric Fey DNF

No 5. Sandy Berry & Andy Lockhart DNF

No 6. Scott Newmark & Sean Kreymborg DNF

No 1. Low/Raynauld (BU) def. Lystad/Lockhart(UIC) 8-6

No 2. Breitenbach/Berry (BU) & Liccardo/Harbo DNF

No 3. West/Newmark (BU) def. Sweeney/Fey(UIC) 8-2