TAMPA, Fla. (March 31, 2007) ? Facing its fourth straight ranked opponent, the University of South Florida men's tennis team came up short Saturday afternoon to No. 45 Middle Tennessee State, 5-2.
A tense match throughout, the Bulls (6-11) nearly seized the critical doubles point to open play. Marc Jaeger and Ales Svigelj, playing together for the tenth time this season, won their match at No. 3, 8-5 over MTSU's Marco Born and Marc Boiron. Andreas Siljestrom and Joao Pailello got past Henning Hipp and Daniel Daudt at No. 2, sending the deciding match to the top spot.
The tandem of Mahmoud Hamed and Thomas Estrada battled back and forth with Marc Rocafort and Morgan Richard until the match had to be decided by a tie-break. The Blue Raiders team prevailed 9-8(8-6), for only the second time in the last eight matches that the Bulls did not claim doubles point.
Starting off in singles play, Hipp dispatched Alex McCann in straight sets, 6-3, 6-0 to get the Bulls on the board and tie the score. With USF winning the first set on three other courts, the team seemed to be set to avenge the doubles loss.
MTSU handled the comeback bid however, and took the next two singles matches to go up 3-1. Diego Toledo got USF back within one, with a 6-4, 6-2 defeat of Pailiello on court six, but No. 69 Siljestrom clinched the match at No. 1 in three sets over Svigelj.
The Bulls will try to end their five-match slide and close the home season on a high note when they square off against Texas-San Antonio, Sun. at 11 a.m. The Roadrunners come in with a record of 9-9 and have lost their last four in a row. Admission to the USF Varsity Tennis Courts is free.
No. 45 MTSU 5, USF 2
Doubles:
1) Rocafort/Richard (MTSU) def. Hamed/Estrada (USF) 9-8(8-6)
2) Siljestrom/Pailiello (MTSU) def. Hipp/Daudt (USF) 8-5
3) Svigelj/Jaeger (USF) def. Born/Boiron (MTSU) 8-5
Singles:
1) (69) Andreas Siljestrom (MTSU) def. Ales Svigelj (USF) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
2) (113) Marco Born (MTSU) def. Marc Jaeger (USF) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
3) Marc Rocafort (MTSU) def. Mahmoud Hamed (USF) 6-4, 6-4
4) Morgan Richard (MTSU) def. Thomas Estrada (USF) 4-6, 7-5, 1-0(6)
5) Henning Hipp (USF) def. Alex McCann (MTSU) 6-3, 6-0
6) Diego Toledo (USF) def. Joao Pailiello (MTSU) 6-4, 6-2
Order of Finish:
Doubles - 3,2,1
Singles- 5,3,2,6,1,4
USF: 6-11 MTSU: 10-11
