May 11, 2001
PROVO, UT -
The 43rd ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team lost 4-3 to
No. 23 Fresno State on Friday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA
Championship at the Brigham Young University Tennis Center. The Bulldogs
captured the doubles point after winning an exciting tiebreaker and then
the match came down to the number one singles match, where the Demon
Deacon's lone senior, Raul Munoz, took the No. 3 ranked player in the
nation to three sets before falling.
"We lost a heartbreaker today," said Wake Forest head coach Jeff Zinn.
"It came down to the last match and Raul (Munoz) lost in three sets to a
guy that's undefeated. We lost a heartbreaker in doubles. It was a
tiebreaker in the deciding match. I can't begin to explain how close
this match was. It came down to two tiebreakers and we lost one in
doubles and we lost in number six singles with Justin (Kaufmann), who
split sets. We gave everything we had and I couldn't be more proud of
>these guys. I know we're top 25 -- I know we are."
Munoz and doubles partner, Mike Murray, lost 8-4 in the number one
doubles match to the fifth ranked team in the nation, Peter Luczak and
David Mullins. David Bere teamed up with Justin Kaufmann to top Bulldogs
Alex Menichini and Alex Krohn 8-4 in the number three match. David
Loewenthal and Trent Brendon took Fresno State's Nick Fustar and Sean
Cooper, the 35th ranked team in the nation, to a tiebreaker before
losing 8-8 (3), giving the Bulldogs a 1-0 advantage going into singles
play.
Loewenthal and Bere won the number three and number four singles matches
in straight sets, as Loewenthal defeated Mullins 6-4, 6-3 and Bere beat
Cooper 6-2, 7-5. Murray didn't take much longer to take out Fustar 6-4,
7-6 (0) in the number two singles match. Brendon lost 6-0, 6-3 to
Menichini in the number five singles match and then Kaufmann dropped the
number six match to Krohn 6-3, 7-6 (4), tying the score 3-3 as Munoz and
Luczak battled it out in the number one match to see which team would
advance to the Regional Finals. Luczak, the third ranked singles player
in the nation in possession of a perfect 25-0 record, won the first set
6-3, but Munoz took the second set 6-1, sending the match to a third
set, where Luczak won 6-2.
Fresno State improves to 18-8 on the season and advances to the second
round of the NCAA Championship. Wake Forest finishes the season with a
14-11 record, but will return five of their six starters next year.
Singles
Wake Forest (43) Fresno State (23) Winner Score
1. Raul Munoz Peter Luczak (3) FSU 6-3, 1-6, 6-2
2. Mike Murray Nick Fustar WFU 6-4, 7-6 (0)
3. David Loewenthal David Mullins WFU 6-4, 6-3
4. David Bere Sean Cooper WFU 6-2, 7-5
5. Trent Brendon Alex Menichini FSU 6-0, 6-3
6. Justin Kaufmann Alex Krohn FSU 6-3, 7-6 (4)
Doubles
1. Munoz/Murray Luczak/Mullins (5) FSU 8-4
2. Loewenthal/Brendon Fustar/Cooper (35) FSU 8-8 (3)
3. Bere/Kaufmann Menichini/Krohn WFU 8-4
