Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Pepperdine<BR>(NCAA Tournament)
Men's Tennis Downed by Pepperdine in NCAA Tournament
5/15/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 15, 2004
FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State men's tennis team saw their season come to a close with a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Pepperdine in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, being played this weekend at the L.A. Tennis Center on the campus of UCLA.
The Bulldogs wrap up the campaign 13-10 and fell in the first round for the first time since 1998.
Pepperdine, which probably will play host and fourth-seeded UCLA on Sunday, improves to 19-8.
The Waves, who also defeated Fresno State in the regular season but by a much closer score of 5-2, began the day by claiming the doubles point with a pair of decisive victories on courts 2 and 3. Pepperdine registered an 8-2 win at the No. 2 position and followed that up with an 8-4 victory at court No. 3.
Ahead 1-0, Calle Hansen was the first to wrap up his match. He avenged his regular season loss to Stefan Suta by handily defeating him 6-2, 6-2. The next to finish was court No. 3, where Alexandre Herrera cruised in a second-set tiebreaker to beat Fresno State's Alex Krohn, 6-2, 7-6 (1).
The match was clinched at the No. 6 position, where Pepperdine's Richard Johnson defeated Sergiu Modoc, 6-3, 7-5.
Although Pepperdine had clinched the win at that point, the three remaining matches were all in a third set and very close.
The Bulldogs were playing without Charles Irie, who competed nearly all season at No. 4 singles. He was representing his native Ivory Coast in Davis Cup competition this weekend.
Sunday's regional final between Pepperdine and the winner of UCLA and Oral Roberts will begin at 1:00 p.m. at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
NCAA Tournament -- First Round
L.A. Tennis Center -- Westwood, Calif.
Pepperdine 4, Fresno State 0
Doubles (Pepperdine wins point)
1. (60) Doerner/Herrera (Pepp) vs. Shearer/Suta (FS), suspended
2. Kevin Borzenski/Hansen (Pepp) def. Cech/Krohn (FS), 8-2
3. Rafidison/Rico (Pepp) def. Modoc/Sinn (FS) 8-4
Singles
1. (21) Pedro Rico (Pepp) vs. (85) Greg Shearer (FS), suspended
2. (59) Calle Hansen (Pepp) def. Stefan Suta (FS), 6-2, 6-2
3. Alexandre Herrera (Pepp) def. Alex Krohn (FS), 6-2, 7-6(1)
4. Scott Doerner (Pepp) vs. Jakub Cech (FS), suspended
5. Alexis Rafidison (Pepp) vs. Andy Sinn (FS), suspended
6. Richard Johnson (Pepp) def. Sergiu Modoc (FS) 6-3, 7-5*
* Denotes clinching match
Records: Fresno State (13-10); Pepperdine (19-8)
