Fresno State Athletics
Men's Tennis Nearly Pulled Off Upsets at Indoors
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
February 22, 1999
Fresno, Calif. - This Weeks Matches
Sat., Feb. 27 at #73 University of San Diego 1 p.m.
Sun., Feb. 28 at #28 San Diego State 1 p.m.
Last Weeks Matches
Thur.-Sun., Feb. 18-21 at National Intercollegiate Team Indoors
vs. #2 Georgia L, 6-1
vs. #7 Texas L, 4-3
vs. #3 Mississippi State L, 4-3
Bulldogs Nearly Pull Off Upsets at Indoors
Fresno State nearly pulled-off two huge upsets last weekend at the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Seattle, Wash. After an opening round loss to second-ranked Georgia, 6-1, the Bulldogs played two close matches with seventh-ranked Texas and third-ranked Mississippi State. Against the Longhorns, Fresno State fell in the hole early by dropping the doubles point but bounced back to capture three singles points, including a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, upset win by 63rd-ranked sophomore Peter Luczak (Melbourne, Australia) over 22nd-ranked Jack Brasington of Texas at No. 1. Eventually Texas earned the decisive fourth point to earn a 4-3 victory. In its final match of the tournament, Fresno State met third-ranked Mississippi State in a battle of 0-2 teams. With the scored tied at 3-3, MSUs Matt Soto defeated junior Rob Cheyne (Wellington, New Zealand), 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, at No. 3 singles to give Mississippi State a 4-3 win. The Bulldogs finished the tournament with an 0-3 record.
Cheyne, Luczak and Le Jeune Slip in Rankings
Rob Cheyne, Olivier Le Jeune and Peter Luczak slipped in the recent singles rankings released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association on February 16. Luczak, who had been the highest-ranked Bulldog at No. 40, fell to No. 63. Le Jeune takes over as the highest-ranked player on the team with his No. 59 ranking, but that is down from his previous No. 43. Cheyne fell four positions to No. 64. The next set of ITA rankings will be released on Monday, March 9 and will include both individual and team rankings.
This Weeks Opponents
The Bulldogs will travel to San Diego, Calif. this week for matches against 73rd-ranked San Diego and 28th-ranked San Diego State. Fresno State will meet San Diego on Saturday and will then face San Diego State on Sunday in the Bulldogs first Western Athletic Conference match of the season. The Bulldogs take a 5-0 series lead into San Diego after defeating the Toreros, 4-3, in Fresno last season. Against the Aztecs, Fresno State will look to avenage last seasons, 4-1, WAC Championship semifinal defeat, which broke the Bulldogs five match win-streak against San Diego State.
Mullins Steps Up Game
Sophomore David Mullins (Shankill, Ireland) has been the surprise player to this point in the year for the Bulldogs. After playing in six singles matches last season, posting a 3-3 record, Mullins has gone 13-5 for the Bulldogs this season. In dual matches, Mullins has posted a 6-3 singles record including a win over Marcio Pepe, 7-6, 6-3, at No. 6, to clinch a victory for the Bulldogs over UC Santa Barbara on February 14. At the National Indoor Championships, Mullins was 2-1 at No. 6, posting wins against Texas and Mississippi State.
