Upsets Rule Day One of Horizon League Tennis Championships

INDIANAPOLIS -- For the first time in Horizon Leauge Tennis Championship history, the No. 6 seeds won on both the men's and women's sides, as Butler and Detroit captured upset wins, respectively.

In both Horizon League men's and women's tennis history, the six seeds had never beaten the No. 3 seeds. And on Friday, it happened twice within one hour at the Barbara Wynne Tennis Center on the campus of North Central High School.

Butler jumped out to an early lead before freshman Austin Woldmoe clinched the team win at No. 1 singles to push the Bulldogs past Youngstown State 4-2.

The Bulldogs advance to play No. 2 seed Green Bay Saturday afternoon at Indy Racquet Club East.

Butler won the doubles point, taking victories at Nos. 1 and 3 doubles. Woldmoe and Billy Weldon won 8-4 at No. 1 and Stephen McLoughlin and Sam O'Neill won 8-5 in the third spot.

Freshman Pulok Bhattacharya then made quick work of Max Schmerin at No. 4 singles 6-3, 6-2. After McLoughlin won at No. 6, BU was in control with Woldmoe and Marx both in control of their matches. Woldmoe finished Tariq Ismail at No. 1 in three sets to clinch the match 4-2. Marx was up in the third set when the dual match was complete.

Just after Butler clinched its win, attention turned to the fourth bank at North Central, where Detroit was in the process of rallying from a 3-0 deficit against third-seeded Milwaukee. Detroit would go on to capture four straight singles wins to close out the match and a berth in the next round.

Elena Strakhova won at No. 3 singles, 6-1, 6-4 and Julia Fernandes followed that with a three-set win, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory at the No. 5 spot.

Chlor Karoub tied the match, 3-3, in the No. 2 singles position winning 6-4, 0-6, 6-3 and leaving the final match point to be decided at No. 4 singles between senior Amanda Cornwell and junior Kelly Fritz of Milwaukee.

The first set saw Fritz jump ahead with a 6-2 win but Cornwell stormed back to tie and force a third set with 6-4 win. Cornwell, who fell to Fritz Saturday at Milwaukee, came out with a 7-5 victory to clinch the match and propel the Titans into the semifinal match.

In the other men’s semifinal, it was No. 4 Cleveland State rallying for a 4-3 victory over fifth-seeded Detroit. The Vikings rallied after dropping the doubles point, getting a key three-set win from Nolan Marks at No. 3 singles.

After dropping the doubles point, the Vikings entered singles play needing to win four out of the six matches, a feat they have done just six times this season. The Titans got out to a 2-0 lead after capturing a 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 4 singles, before Jorg Van Der Vloet gave CSU its first point of the day with a 6-4, 6-2 victory at the No. 5 spot.

Matt Ford, who recorded his ninth straight victory Friday, evened the score at 2-2 following a 7-5, 6-1 victory at No. 6 singles. Ford also became the first Viking to record 20 wins this season, improving his overall record to 20-14 on the year. Senior Yannick Goossens gave the Vikings a 3-2 edge shortly after, posting a 6-3, 6-2 win at the No. 1 singles spot.

Following an Alex Latosinsky win at No. 2 singles tied the match at 3-3, the outcome of the contest rested on the result of the No. 4 singles match. After dropping the first set (6-4), Marks came back to post a 6-3 win during the second set , forcing a third set. Marks got out to an early lead during the final frame and held on to claim a 6-2 victory, giving the Vikings the 4-3 win over the Titans.

The Butler women’s team forged a similar path in its 4-3 win over No. 5 Wright State. The Bulldogs dropped the doubles point before collecting four of six singles matches.

Sophomores Caroline Hedrick and Laura Shull clinched the final points to lift the Dawgs past Wright State. Hedrick lost a first-set tie-break before winning 6-4, 6-3 the rest of the way. Shull's 6-2, 6-3 win over Chelsea Girgash was the final point in the win.

After losing the doubles point, BU took control of the match with wins by sophomore Stephanie McLoughlin and senior Cam Thompson. McLoughlin won at No. 2 in straight sets and Thompson did likewise in the fourth spot.

Here is the schedule for tomorrow’s matches, after this afternoon’s results and the inclement weather forecast for tomorrow:

Women’s Semifinals (both starting at 9am – warmup at 8am):
(1)     UIC vs. (4) Butler – West Indy Racquet Club
(2)     Cleveland State vs. (6) Detroit – Butler Bubble

Men’s Semifinals (both starting at 4pm – warmup at 3pm):
(1)     Wright State vs. (4) Cleveland State – Butler Bubble
(2)     Green Bay vs. (6) Butler – IRC East

The address for West Indy Racquet Club is: 4458 Guion Road Indianapolis, IN 46254

The address for IRC East is: 4901 N. Shadeland Avenue Indianapolis, IN 46226

Due to moving matches indoors, the backdraw will be canceled tomorrow.

 (6) Butler 4, (3) Youngstown State 2
April 27, 2012 | Indianapolis, Ind. (North Central H.S.)
Horizon League Men’s Tennis First Round

Doubles:
No. 1 – Austin Woldmoe/Billy Weldon (BU) def. Tariq Ismail/Dawoud Kabli (YSU), 8-4
No. 2 – Rodrigo Campos/Victor Theorin (YSU) def. Tommy Marx/Zach Ervin (BU), 8-1
No. 3 – Stephen McLoughlin/Sam O’Neill (BU) def. Silviu Mistreanu/Zeeshan Ismail (YSU), 8-5

Singles:
No. 1 – Austin Woldmoe (BU) def. Tariq Ismail (YSU) 6-1, 5-7, 6-1
No. 2 – Silviu Mistreanu (YSU) vs. Tommy Marx (BU) 4-6, 6-4, 4-2
No. 3 – Dawoud Kabli (YSU) def. Zach Ervin (BU) 6-2, 6-0
No. 4 – Pulok Bhattacharya (BU) def. Max Schmerin (YSU) 6-3, 6-2
No. 5 – Rodrigo Campos (YSU) def. Billy Weldon (BU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-1
No. 6 – Stephen McLoughlin (BU) def. Zeeshan Ismail (YSU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-0

(4) Cleveland State 4, (5) Detroit 3
April 27, 2012 | Indianapolis, Ind. (North Central H.S.)
Horizon League Men’s Tennis Championship 1^st Round

Doubles:
No. 1 – Nolan Marks/Ali Shabib (CSU) def. Mike Basha/Chris Cheung (DET) 8-4
No. 2 – Alex Latosinsky/David Stabley (DET) def. Yannick Goossens/Matt Ford (CSU) 8-4
No. 3 – Pablo Nunez/Jay Joshi (DET) def. Matt Kuelker/Jorg van der Vloet (CSU) 8-5

Singles:
No. 1 – Yannick Goossens (CSU) def. Cesar Escobar (DET) 6-3, 6-2
No. 2 – Alex Latosinsky (DET) def. Matt Kuelker (CSU) 6-4, 6-2
No. 3 – Nolan Marks (CSU) def. Mike Basha (DET) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
No. 4 – Nick Tolomei (DET) def. Ali Shabib (CSU) 6-3, 6-3
No. 5 – Jorg van der Vloet (CSU) def. Pablo Nunez (DET) 6-4, 6-2
No. 6 – Matt Ford (CSU) def. David Streeter (DET) 7-5, 6-1

(4) Butler 4, (5) Wright State 3
April 27, 2012 | Indianapolis, Ind. (North Central H.S.)
Horizon League Women’s Tennis Championships 1^st Round

Doubles:
No. 1 – Stephanie McLoughlin/Gabrielle Rubenstein (BU) def. Masha Peresetsky/Abby Lewis (WSU) 8-6
No. 2 – Alex Bastock/Kayla Tuscany (WSU) def. Caroline Hedrick/Angelina Qin (BU) 8-4
No. 3 – Amy Nini/Taylor Hines (WSU) def. Cam Thompson/Ashley Breitenbach (BU) 8-6

Singles:
No. 1 – Caroline Hedrick (BU) def. Kayla Tuscany (WSU) 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 – Stephanie McLoughlin (BU) def. Masha Peresetsky (WSU) 6-4, 6-3
No. 3 – Alex Bastock (WSU) def. Gabrielle Rubenstein (BU) 6-4, 6-2
No. 4 – Cam Thompson (BU) def. Amy Nini (WSU) 7-5, 6-3
No. 5 – Abby Lewis (WSU) def. Angelina Qin (BU) 6-3, 7-6 (5)
No. 6 – Laura Shull (BU) def. Chelsea Girgash (WSU) 6-2, 6-3

(6) Detroit 4, (3) Milwaukee 3
April 27, 2012 | Indianapolis, Ind. (North Central H.S.)
Horizon League Women’s Tennis Championship 1^st Round

Doubles:
No. 1 – Maddy Soule/Christina Colarossi (UWM) def. Amanda Cornwell/Elena Strakhova (DET) 8-4
No. 2 – Kelly Fritz/Kristin Kurer (UWM) vs. Raina Halabi/Chloe Karoub (DET) 7-2
No. 3 – Brittany Skemp/Megan Gow (UWM) def. Julia Fernandes/Alyssa Korson (DET) 8-2

Singles:
No. 1 – Maddy Soule (UWM) def. Raina Halabi (DET) 6-1, 6-3
No. 2 – Chloe Karoub (DET) def. Chelsea Bailey (UWM) 6-4, 0-6, 6-3
No. 3 – Elena Strakhova (DET) def. Christina Colarossi (UWM) 6-1, 6-4
No. 4 – Amanda Cornwell (DET) def. Kelly Fritz (UWM) 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
No. 5 – Julia Fernandes (DET) def. Kristin Kurer (UWM) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
No. 6 – Brittany Skemp (UWM) def. Alyssa Korson (DET) 6-0, 6-1