April 21, 2001
New Orleans, La.-- -
The University of Memphis men's tennis team was upset being seeded behind
UAB after the league conference call, Monday. But after the call, the Tigers
just adopted their 'we'll show them' attitude about being ranked No. 7 despite
being one of six C-USA teams to be nationally-ranked.
Well, ask the Tigers how revenge feels after Memphis downed UAB, 4-3, in
a third-round victory at the Conference USA Championships, Saturday.
Memphis jumped out to a 1-0 lead after winning the No. 1 and 2 doubles
matches by identical scores, 8-5.
Memphis sophomore Joe Schmulian stretched that lead to 2-0 with a 6-1, 6-4,
win at No. 2 singles, but UAB battled back to tie it at 2-2 with wins at no. 3 and No. 4
singles.
That left No. 1, 5 and 6 up for grabs. Given that Michael Chamberlain has
battled through some mammoth matches already this season, it was probably
no surprise that he won his No. 5 singles match, 7-5, 6-3 to move the Tigers
ahead 3-2.
But Andre va der Merwe's three-set win over Memphis' Richard Magney at No. 1,
again knotted the match at three apiece, leaving junior Michael LaHaie's
match at No. 6 the deciding match. LaHaie won the first set 7-5 before
UAB's Rusty Walker battled back to win the second set, 6-2. The two
opponents battled in the third before LaHaie put the set, match and dual
away with a 7-5 win in the third.
Memphis will play for fifth-place, Sunday, at 11 a.m. The Tigers will face either
Southern Miss or DePaul, whichever team loses their 4 p.m., Saturday, match.
Singles
No. 1 - Andre van der Merwe (UAB) def. Richard Magney (UM), 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
No. 2 - Joe Schmulian (UM) def. Tom Dalby (UAB), 6-1, 6-4
No. 3 - Alex Jung (UAB) def. Ben Stapp (UM), 6-3, 6-1
No. 4 - Sanzarus Zaman (UAB) def. Alistair Todd (UM), 6-4, 7-6
No. 5 - Michael Chamberlain (UM) def. Niklas Lindstrom (UAB), 7-5, 6-3
No. 6 - Michael LaHaie (UM) def. Rusty Walker (UAB), 7-5, 2-6, 7-5
Doubles
No. 1 - Todd/Stapp (UM) def. Jung/Dalby (UAB), 8-5
No. 2 - Schmulian/Chamberlain (UM) def. Walker/Ambrose (UAB), 8-5
No. 3 - Merwe/Zaman (UAB) def. Jack Hu/LaHaie (UM), 8-4
