Singles Dominance
Lifts Colonels to Upset of UTSA
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas
– Despite winning only one match
during the conference season,
Nicholls State’s men’s tennis team
may have found its collective stroke
at just the right time. The No. 6
Colonels used dominant singles play
to pull off the upset of No. 3 UTSA,
4-2 on Friday in the opening round
of the Southland Conference Men’s
Tennis Championship at the HEB
Tennis Center.
With the win, Nicholls State
advances into the semifinal round
where it will take on No. 2
Texas-Pan American at 9:30 a.m. on
Saturday.
Forced to rally after losing the
doubles point, the Colonels did just
that by winning four of the five
completed singles matches. Radu
Ionescu, Eric Fischer and Phenyo
Matong tallied straight-set
victories for the Colonels in the
Nos. 2-4 matchups, but it was Rohan
Shetty’s victory at No. 5 that
helped give Nicholls State a
motivational boost.
Shetty took on UTSA’s Max Stratmann
in what was essentially the decisive
match and staked himself to an early
lead with a 6-4 first-set win. The
duo then traded well-placed and, at
times, powerful ground strokes as
the second set reached a tiebreak.
Stratmann grabbed hold of an
opportunity to even the match and
won the bonus game 7-4. After a
quick break, Shetty and Stratmann
continued their frenetic play well
into the third set, even forcing
another thrilling tiebreak. It was
only fitting that this extra session
would require extra points, and it
was Shetty who walked away to fight
another day with an 8-6 win.
Another hard-fought match at No. 1
singles between UTSA’s Rodrigo
Morgado and Nicholls State’s Abhaya
Prakash reached a decisive third set
but went unfinished.
UTSA took the early lead after
winning the doubles point in
relatively short order. Jorge
Delgado and Daniel Moreiras opened
the round with an 8-3 win over Rohan
Shetty and Sami Mouline at No. 3.
Andre Moriera and Rodrigo Morgado
then clinched the point with a
quick, 8-1 victory that allowed the
No. 2 matchup to go unfinished.
Nicholls State and Texas-Pan
American last met in Edinburg on
Feb. 25, when the Broncs used their
home court advantage to edge the
Colonels, 4-3. While it was 2009
Southland Player of the Year Aswin
Vijayaragavan and Brett and Beau
Bernstein that paced UTPA to its
first conference win of the season,
Nicholls State won the doubles point
and briefly held a lead in singles
after match victories from Fischer
and Prakash. The rematch is set for
a 9:30 a.m. first serve Saturday at
the HEB Tennis Center.
Match One Results
No. 6 Nicholls State def No. 3 UTSA,
4-2
Apr 24, 2009, at Corpus Christi,
Texas
Singles competition:
1. Rodrigo Morgado (UTSA-M) vs.
Abhaya Prakash (NICH-M) 5-7, 2-6,
5-6, unfinished
2. Radu Ionescu (NICH-M) def. Andre
Moreira (UTSA-M) 6-1, 6-3
3. Eric Fischer (NICH-M) def. Pedro
Zanotelli (UTSA-M) 6-4, 6-3
4. Phenyo Matong (NICH-M) def.
Daniel Moreiras (UTSA-M) 6-4, 7-6
(7-5)
5. Rohan Shetty (NICH-M) def. Max
Stratmann (UTSA-M) 6-4, 6-7 (4-7),
7-6 (8-6)
6. Jorge Delgado (UTSA-M) def. Sami
Mouline (NICH-M) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles competition:
1. Andre Moreira/Rodrigo Morgado
(UTSA-M) def. Radu Ionescu/Abhaya
Prakash (NICH-M) 8-1
2. Pedro Zanotelli/Max Stratmann
(UTSA-M) vs. Phenyo Matong/Eric
Fischer (NICH-M) 5-4, unfinished
3. Jorge Delgado/Daniel Moreiras
(UTSA-M) def. Rohan Shetty/Sami
Mouline (NICH-M) 8-3
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3);
Singles ()
T-3:58
Post-match Quotes
Nicholls State Head Coach – Jim
Hunter
“It was a very exciting match, UTSA
is always good and their coach is
marvelous.”
“A win against them is just
wonderful for our program.”
“We got a great effort in singles
because we got smoked in doubles; it
did not look good after the doubles
matches.”
“We lost to UTPA 4-3 earlier in the
year, it was a close match. We have
hopes for tomorrow, they had the day
off to rest, but we are just going
to relax and get ready for our match
tomorrow.”
Nicholls State – Sophomore Rohan
Shetty
“We played good today; it was a
tight match at the end.”
“Our other guys played good, they
were winning so it made it easier
for me”
UTSA Head Coach – Dr. Oliver
Trittenwein
“All credit to Nicholls, we took the
doubles point from them as we did
this season, they just didn’t go
away, came back and took us out at
[Nos.] 2, 3, 4 singles.”
“[Nicholls State] played better
tennis than we did today. [They]
played very well and very focused,
used the wind to their advantage.”
“They played like they had a mission
to beat us, and they did.”
