Blue Raiders Lose 4-0 in Tourney Finals

Sunday, April 21

Mobile, Ala.

2:00 PM

Middle Tennessee

#40 South Alabama

4/21/2002 5:31:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: MT Media Relations

MOBILE, Ala. - The 41st-ranked and second-seeded Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders dropped a hardfought doubles point and then three straight singles matches to lose 4-0 to 40th-ranked and top-seeded South Alabama in the Sun Belt Championship finals at the Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts on the South Alabama campus. The Blue Raiders got off to a good start in the doubles when 43rd-ranked Daniel Klemetz and Kirk Jackson def. Heinrich Heyl and Vincent Baudat, 8-3, at No. 2 doubles, and Trevor Short and Michael Staniak led 5-4 at No. 3. But Short and Staniak could not hold the lead, falling 8-5 to Clinton Jacobs and Evan Fowler. Then Christian Thall and Kosta Zinchanka gave the home team the doubles point with an 8-5 victory over 30th-ranked Oliver Foreman and Robert Gustafsson. The Jaguars took a 2-0 lead early in singles when Fowler defeated Short, , at No. 6. Shortly thereafter Heyl took a 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over 116th-ranked Gustafsson at No. 2 for a 3-0 USA advantage. South Alabama rapped up the victory and the conference championship with a 6-4, 6-3 victory at No. 5, as Zlatko Stupavsky defeated Greg Pollack. Klemetz led at No. 1 and Staniak was leading at No. 4 when the match ended. The Blue Raiders ended the regular season 16-7, the same as last year, and now must play the waiting game for almost two weeks before selections are made for the NCAA team tournament. #40 SOUTH ALABAMA 4, #41 MIDDLE TENNESSEE 0
SINGLES
1. (15) Daniel Klemetz (MT) vs. (43) Kosta Zinchanka (USA), DNF
2. Heinrich Heyl (USA) def. (116) Robert Gustafsson (MT), 6-3, 7-6 (5)
3. Oliver Foreman (MT) vs. Christian Thall (USA), DNF
4. Michael Staniak (MT) vs. Jullien Gillet (USA), DNF
5. Zlatko Stupavsky (USA) def. Greg Pollack (MT), 6-4, 6-3
6. Evan Fowler (USA) def. Trevor Short (MT), 6-3, 6-1
DOUBLES
1. Zinchanka-Thall (USA) def. (30) Foreman-Gustafsson (MT), 8-5
2. (43) Klemetz-Kirk Jackson (MT) def. Heyl-Vincent Baudat (USA), 8-3
3. Clinton Jacobs-Fowler (USA) def. Staniak-Short (MT), 8-5