Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Harvard
Men's Tennis Tops No. 24 Harvard 5-2
3/25/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 25, 2002
FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State men's tennis team received inspired efforts from the middle of their lineup en route to a 5-2 victory over 24th-ranked Harvard at the Spalding G. Wathen Tennis Center. The victory snaps the Bulldogs' eight-match losing streak and brings their record to 4-12.
Fresno State started strong, grabbing a 1-0 lead when it won two of the three doubles. The Bulldogs' tandem of Nick Fustar and Dustin Ilic, currently ranked 44th in the nation, set the pace with a 9-7 victory at No. 1 over Harvard's David Lingman and Chris Chiou.
In singles, Fresno State dominated at Nos. 2-5. Hector Almada kicked things off at No. 2, putting Fresno State up 2-0 with his 6-3, 6-0 win over 95th-ranked Jonathan Chu. But moments after Almada finished, the Crimson sliced the lead to 2-1 when Lingman defeated Nick Fustar 6-2, 6-4 at No. 1.
The Bulldogs jumped up 3-1 when Stefan Suta pulled out a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 3 singles against Cliff Nguyen. Harvard managed to stay in it, though, by picking up a 7-6 (8), 6-2 victory at No. 6 over Vince Owens.
That left Nos. 4 and 5 singles still on the court. At the time, Fresno State's Greg Shearer at No. 5 was ahead 7-6 (4), 4-4 against George Turner while the Bulldogs' Alex Krohn and Mark Riddell were tied in the third set at No. 4. Shearer was the first to come through, breaking Turner at 4-4 in the second set then holding serve to win the match and clinch victory for Fresno State. Shearer's triumph was punctuated by a sizzling on-the-dead-run backhand passing shot on match point that sent the Bulldogs into celebration.
Krohn's victory was much more of a struggle. Eventually, the sophomore gutted out a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Turner, making it 5-2 Fresno State.
The Bulldogs conclude their two-match homestand Thursday at 11 a.m. against No. 36 Northwestern.
Doubles
1) No. 44 Fustar/Ilic (FS) def. Lingman/Chiou (Har) 9-7
2) Almada/Suta (FS) def. Snyder/Riddell (Har) 8-6
3) Lee/Chu (Har) def. Krohn/Shearer (FS) 8-2
Doubles order of completion: 3, 2, 1
Singles
1) David Lingman (Har) def. Nick Fustar (FS) 6-2, 6-4
2) Hector Almada (FS) def. No. 95 Jonathan Chu (Har) 6-3, 6-0
3) Stefan Suta (FS) def. Cliff Nguyen (Har) 6-4, 6-4
4) Alex Krohn (FS) def. Mark Riddell (Har) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
5) Greg Shearer (FS) def. George Turner (Har) 7-6 (4), 6-4
6) William Lee (Har) def. Vince Owens (FS) 7-6 (8), 6-2
Singles order of completion: 2, 1, 3, 6, 5, 4
