Temple University Athletics
Temple University
Saint Louis
Temple Men's Tennis Wins First Match at Atlantic 10 Championship
4.16.10 | Men's Tennis
#4 Owls defeat #5 Saint Louis, 4-3
MONROEVILLE, Pa. – The Temple men's tennis team inched just a bit closer to capturing its first Atlantic 10 championship since 1985 with its second round win over Saint Louis, 4-3, on Friday, April 16, at Club 4 Life in Monroeville, Pa. The Owls, seeded fourth, received a bye in the first round while SLU defeated #12 Fordham earlier in the day.
TU started strong, taking the doubles point for the Billikens. Filip Rams and Dmitry Vizhunov opened the match with an 8-4 win at the first flight. Andrey Morozov and Kacper Rams wrapped up the point with a hard-fought 9-7 win at number three, giving the Cherry & White the early advantage.
Saint Louis got on the board when Jake Hendrie got by Kacper Rams on the third singles court, 6-1, 6-4, but Rams' older brother Filip got the lead right back with his 6-4, 6-3 decision over James McArthur at number one. SLU once again knotted the score with a 6-4, 6-4 win from Ken Nordheim over Morozov at the second flight.
With the match tied at 2-2, Temple's Stanislav Stekolshikov came up huge in a come-from-behind three-set victory at number five, handing P.J. Hendrie a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 setback. Proving why they were seeded just one behind the Owls, the Billikens number four player Chris Eriksson got past Vizhunov, 6-3, 6-4, to tie it up one more time.
With the match on the line, Mansur Gishkaev clinched the win for TU with an intense 7-6 (5), 7-5 victory over Bryan Beasley at the sixth flight.
“We had a very good win today,” said head coach Steve Mauro. “We came out strong with our new doubles combinations and everybody performed well and carried that over to the singles matches. Saint Louis is a very strong team, one of the top in the A-10, so it was great to get a win against a great opponent.”
The Owls, 10-10, move on to challenge top-seeded George Washington at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 17, in the semi-final round. Temple and GW squared off earlier in the season, and the Colonials were victorious, 5-2.
#4 TEMPLE 4, #5 SAINT LOUIS 3
Doubles
1. Dmitri Vizhunov/Filip Rams (TU) def. James McArthur/P.J. Hendrie (SLU) – 8-4
2. Mansur Gishkaev/Stanislav Stekolshikov (TU) vs. Ken Nordheim/Chris Eriksson (SLU) – 8-7 (DNF)
3. Kacper Rams/Andrey Morozov (TU) def. Jake Hendrie/Dave Welkner (SLU) – 9-7
Singles
1. F. Rams (TU) def. McArthur (SLU) – 6-4, 6-3
2. Nordheim (SLU) def. Morozov (TU) – 6-4, 6-4
3. J. Hendrie (SLU) def. K. Rams (TU) – 6-1, 6-4
4. Eriksson (SLU) def. Vizhunov (TU) – 6-3, 6-4
5. Stekolshikov (TU) def. P.J. Hendrie (SLU) – 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
6. Gishkaev (TU) def. Bryan Beasley (SLU) – 7-6 (5), 7-5
