Kansas City
Air Force
'Roos Edge Northwest Missouri State, 4-3, To Tally 12th Victory
4/15/2009 7:15:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Kansas City, Mo. -- The UMKC men's tennis team picked up its 12th victory of the season with a tight 4-3 win over No. 25 Northwest Missouri State on Wednesday afternoon at the Plaza Tennis Center in Kansas City. The Kangaroos won the doubles point and matches at the two, three and four singles positions to claim the victory.
UMKC opened the day with an 8-2 victory at the three doubles when Serge Ristivojevic and Gustavo Guerin teamed up to defeat Calvin Patterson and Tony Adeyemi. The win improved the duo's record to 8-1 this season.
The Bearcats followed with a win at the No. 2 position, where Felipe Gennari and Ryan Westerhof topped UMKC's Dennis Schwarz and Erwin Quintanilla, 8-4. The 'Roos, however, went on to take the point with a victory at the one line when Patrick Smith and Bret Berryman were victorious over Daniel Usieto and Vijit Sehgal by the score of 8-3.
The Kangaroos stretched their lead to 3-0 with straight set wins at the three and four positions. Ristivojevic secured the first singles win - his ninth win of the season - with his 6-1, 6-3 victory over Westerhof at the four line. Guerin then followed with his 11th singles win, as he defeated Sehgal, 6-2, 6-0, at the three line.
NWMS fought back to even the match at three with wins at the one, five and six lines. Giovanni Auricchio upended Quintanilla, 6-1, 6-2, at the five position before Patterson topped Nick Hays, 6-2, 6-1 at the six line. Usieto then got some revenge on Berryman for his doubles triumph when he topped the UMKC junior by the score of 6-4, 6-1 at the top singles position.
The Bearcats had the advantage in the match at the two line, as Gennari held off Smith for a 7-6 (1) victory in the first set. UMKC's Smith, however, battled back to win set two, 6-3, before clinching the 'Roo victory with a 6-1 win in the third and final set. The victory was Smith's team-leading 12th win of the season and his 11th win at the two position, which ties Craig Gansen for the most wins at the two line in school history.
UMKC (12-6) will head to Fort Wayne, Ind., on April 24-25 for the 2009 Summit League Championship, where the 'Roos will face off against third seeded Western Illinois on Friday.
Players Mentioned
