The opening day of the 2005 C-USA Men's Tennis Championship in Louisville, Ky. is in the books. All four lower-seeded teams emerged victorious on Thursday. No. 8 seed Southern Miss opened the day’s action with a win over Charlotte, 4-1. Fifth-seeded UAB dismissed Saint Louis, 4-0 in the second match and USF followed with a 4-0 victory of its own, downing Marquette for the second straight year in opening round play. In the final match of the day, DePaul topped East Carolina in a re-match of last year’s opening round matchup, 4-1.

(8) Southern Miss def. (9) Charlotte, 4-1
No. 8-seeded Southern Miss defeated No. 9 Charlotte 4-1 on the first day of the Conference USA Men's Tennis Championship at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center on Thursday.

Charlotte took the doubles point to start the match as the team of Marc-Oliver Lux and Dylan Mezey defeated Roy Sichel and Dorian Host 8-5 at the top seed. Reid Bourgeois and Christopher Rea beat Marlo Santoso and Jonathan Vencatachellum 8-6 at No. 2. The Southern Miss team of David Canudas and Juan Garzon defeated Jonathan Clark and Stuart Lynas 8-3 at No. 3.

USM’s Rea defeated Clark 6-4, 6-2 at the No. 2 seed to tie the match. Bourgeois beat Vencatachellum 7-5, 6-3 at No. 3 to give the Golden Eagles a 2-1 lead. Lux defeated Santoso 7-5, 7-6 at No. 2. The match was decided at the No. 6 spot where USM’s Mezey lost the first set 4-6 and was up 4-3 in the second when Charlotte’s Zvi Landsberg retired.

Southern Miss will move on to play No. 2 seeded TCU Friday at 11 a.m. Charlotte will face the loser of the Saint Louis/UAB match Friday at 9 a.m.

Match Summary – Southern Miss 4, Charlotte 1

Singles
1. David Canudas, USM vs.Roy Sichel, CHA DNF, 6-4, 3-6, 1-1, susp.
2. Marc-Oliver Lux, USM def. Marlo Santoso, CHA, 7-5, 7-6
3. Christopher Rea, USM def. Jonathan Clark, CHA, 6-4, 6-2
4. Juan Garzon, USM vs. Dorian Host, DNF, 7-6, 4-5, susp.
5. Reid Bourgeois, USM def. Jonathan Vencatachellum, CHA, 7-5, 6-3
6. Dylan Mezey, USM def Zvi Lantsberg, CHA, 4-6, 4-3 ret.

Doubles
1. Sichel/Host, CHA def. Lux/Mezey, USM 8-5
2. Santoso/Vencatachellum, CHA def. Bourgeois/Rez, USM, 8-6
3. Canudas/Garzon, USM def. Clark/Stuart Lynas, CHA, 8-3


(5) UAB def. Saint Louis, 4-0
Fifth-seeded UAB defeated No. 12 seed Saint Louis 4-0 in the second match of the 2005 Conference USA Men's Tennis Championship.

UAB began the match by taking the doubles point as Kristijan Mitrovski and Anton Mavrin defeated SLU's Matt Rineberg and James Wilson 8-3 at No. 2 and the team of Sebastian Falk and Johannes Spangenberg beat Kyle Shoff and Chris Welnetz 8-0 at the three spot.

In singles action, the Blazers' Mitrovski defeated Paul Feder 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 to take a 2-0 lead. Spangenberg beat SLU's Andrew Baker 6-1, 6-0 at No. 6 and Mavrin clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Welnetz at No. 2.

UAB will face No. 3 seed Louisville Friday at 8 a.m. at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. Saint Louis will play Charlotte Friday at 9 a.m. at Chickasaw Park.

Match Summary - UAB 4 Saint Louis 0

Singles
1. Sebastian Falk, UAB vs. Tom de Larzac, SLU 6-2, 4-0, susp.
2. Anton Mavrin, UAB def. Chris Welnetz, SLU 6-2, 6-1
3. Andre Maier, UAB vs. James Wilson, SLU 6-3, 1-2, susp.
4. Kristijan Mitrovski, UAB def. Paul Feder, SLU 6-1, 6-1
5. Filip Kanczula, UAB vs. Matt Rineberg, SLU 6-4, 2-1, susp.
6. Johannes Spangenberg, UAB def. Andrew Balcer, SLU 6-1, 6-0

Doubles
1. de Larzac/Feder, SLU vs. Kanczula/Maier, UAB 5-4, susp.
2. Mitrovski/Mavrin, UAB def. Rineberg/Wilson, SLU 8-3
3. Falk/Spangenberg, UAB def. Kyle Shoff/Welnetz, SLU 8-0

Order of finish: 3, 2


(6) USF def. (11) Marquette, 4-0
Sixth-seeded USF defeated No. 11 seed Marquette 4-0 Thursday in the third match of the 2005 Conference USA Men’s Tennis Championship.

USF began the match by taking the doubles point as the team of Uli Kiendl and Federico Barton beat Brett Binkley and Pete Van Lieshout 8-4 at No. 1. Juan Barragan and Dillon Brozyna teamed to defeat Marquette’s Ian Kawas and Ricky Servoss 8-6 at the three-spot to clinch the doubles point.

In singles action, the Bulls’ Jaeger defeated Greg Sirotek 6-2, 6-1 at No. 5 to make the score 2-0. Barton topped Binkley 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2 and Juan Carlos Gomez defeated Servoss 6-2, 6-2 at No. 6 to clinch the match.

USF will face No. 4 seed Memphis Friday at 5 p.m. at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. Marquette will play East Carolina in a consolation match Friday at noon at Chickasaw Park.

Match Summary – USF 4 – Marquette 0

Singles
1. Uli Kiendl, USF vs. Eigis Vedrickas, MAR 6-2, 2-5, susp.
2. Ian Kawas, MAR vs. Juan Barragan, USF 6-4, 2-2, susp.
3. Federico Barton, USF def. Brett Binkley, MAR 6-0, 6-0
4. Andreas Maroldt, USF vs. Pete Van Lieshout, MAR 6-3, 3-2, susp
5. Marc Jaeger, USF def. Greg Sirotek, MAR 6-2, 6-1
6. Juan Carlos Gomez, USF def. Ricky Servoss, MAR 6-2, 6-2

Order of finish: 5, 3, 6

Doubles
1. Kiendl/Barton, USF def. Binkley/Van Lieshout, MAR 8-4
2. Maroldt/Jaeger, USF vs. Sirotek/Vedrickas MAR 8-7, susp.
3. Barragan/Dillon Brozyna, USF def. Kawas/Servoss, MAR 8-6

Order of finish: 1, 3


(7) DePaul def. (10) East Carolina, 4-1
Seventh-seeded DePaul defeated No. 10 seed East Carolina 4-1 Thursday to close out the opening day of the 2005 Conference USA Men’s Tennis Championship.

The Blue Demons took the doubles point to start the match as the team of Eric Huffman and Robert Kotrozco defeated Henrique Viana and Darren Mansell 8-4 at No. 2. DePaul’s Mark Henderson and Sam Davidson beat Nick Rose and Paulo Baumer 8-5 at the top seed to clinch the point.

In singles action, Jack Komar gave the Blue Demons a 2-0 lead with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Florian Tremmel at No. 5. George Wang defeated Viana 6-2, 6-2 at the three-spot to make it a 3-0 match. East Carolina’s Rose defeated Huffman 7-5, 1-6, 6-0 at No. 6, making the score 3-1. DePaul’s Davidson closed out the match with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Mansell at No. 4.

DePaul will face top-seeded Tulane Friday at 2 p.m. at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. East Carolina will play Marquette Friday at noon at Chickasaw Park.

Match Summary – DePaul 4 – East Carolina 1
Singles
1. Mark Henderson, DPU vs. Paulo Baumer ECU 7-5, 3-6, 4-2 susp.
2. Robert Kotrozco, DPU vs. Felipe Fonseca, ECU 7-5, 3-6, 3-0 susp.
3. George Wang, DPU def. Henrique Viana, ECU 6-2, 6-2
4. Sam Davidson, DPU def. Darren Mansell, ECU 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
5. Jack Komar, DPU def. Florian Tremmel, ECU 6-2, 6-4
6. Nick Rose, ECU def. Eric Huffman, DPU 7-5, 1-6, 6-0

Order of finish: 5, 3, 6, 4

Doubles
1. Henderson/Davidson, DPU def. Rose/Baumer ECU 8-5
2. Huffman/Kotrozco, DPU def. Viana/Mansell ECU 8-4
3. Gabe Inchauste/Wang DPU vs. Fonseca/Robert Stasch ECU 6-5 susp.

Order of finish: 2, 1

The quarterfinals get underway at 8 a.m. on Friday with UAB playing the host and No. 3 seed Louisville. Southern Miss will face No. 2 seed TCU at 11 a.m, with DePaul facing top-seeded Tulane at 2 p.m. Friday’s action concludes when USF battles No. 4 seed Memphis at 5 p.m.

The semifinals take place Saturday, April 23 beginning at 9 a.m. A ninth-place consolation round will also be played Friday and Saturday. The championship match is slated for Sunday, April 24 at 11 a.m. All main draw matches will take place at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.


2005 C-USA Men’s Tennis Championship Schedule of Events

Thursday, April 21
(8) Southern Miss def. (9) Charlotte, 4-1
(5) UAB def. (12) Saint Louis, 4-0
(6) USF def. (11) Marquette, 4-0
(7) DePaul def. (10) East Carolina, 4-1

Friday, April 22
(3) Louisville vs. UAB, 8 a.m.
(2) TCU vs. Southern Miss, 11 a.m.
(1) Tulane vs. DePaul, 2 p.m.
(4) Memphis vs. USF, 5 p.m.

Ninth Place Consolation
Saint Louis vs. Charlotte , 9 a.m.
Marquette vs. East Carolina, Noon

Saturday, April 23
Semifinal 1, 9 a.m.
Semifinal 2, Noon

Ninth Place Match, 3 p.m.

Sunday, April 24
Championship Match, 11 a.m.

All Times Eastern