Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
San Francisco
Bulldogs Edge Dons 4-3
1/29/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Jan. 29, 2006
FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State men's tennis team edged the San Francisco Dons 4-3 Sunday at the Wathen Tennis Center. In a match that San Francisco led 3-2, Fresno State's No. 1 and 2 singles players pulled through in the end to give the Bulldogs a narrow 4-3 victory. The Bulldogs improve to 3-0 on the season, while the Dons dropped to 1-2.
"Anytime we can win, we're happy," said head coach Jay Udwadia. "However, we didn't play our best today. It's a complete team effort; everyone has to step up and play his best. We're getting some good matches under our belts, but now we've got to improve."
The Bulldogs began the dual match by winning two of the three doubles matches to win the doubles point. At No. 3 doubles, freshman Jordi Ballester and sophomore Sam Tadevosian trailed 3-0 early, but rallied to win 8-4.
In singles, junior Charles Irie was solid on his way to a 6-1, 6-3 defeat of Fernando Rodriguez. But the Dons won three singles matches with two matches still uncompleted. With the 'Dogs down 3-2, junior Jakub Cech and USF's Matthew Berry traded points in the third set. Up 5-4 in the third, Cech finally broke Berry's serve to finish with a win, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.
Senior Sergiu Modoc and the Dons' Falko Huettenberger battled to settle the dual match. Modoc showed great toughness to pull out a 7-6 (12) first set and take the momentum. In the second set, Modoc's experience and perseverance proved to be the difference as he put Huettenberger away 6-3.
"Serg really showed his leadership there in the end," said Udwadia. "He came up with a big win to secure the victory for us."
The Bulldogs return to action next Friday, Feb. 3 at 4 p.m. in the Wathen Tennis Center.
Results - #67 Fresno State def. San Francisco, 4-3
Doubles (Fresno State wins doubles point)
1) Gibbs/Modoc (FS) def. Huettenberger/Rodrigez (USF), 8-4
2) Berry/Kramer (USF) def. Cech/Irie (FS), 8-4
3) Ballester/Tadevosian (FS) def. Del Rosario/Tu (USF), 8-4
Order of completion: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1) Jakub Cech (FS) def. Matthew Berry (USF), 7-5, 2-6, 6-2
2) Sergiu Modoc (FS) def. Falko Huettenberger (USF), 7-6 (12), 6-3
3) Charles Irie (FS) def. Fernando Rodriguez (USF), 6-1, 6-3
4) Korbinian Kramer (USF) def. Sam Tadevosian (FS), 7-6, 6-4
5) Thong Tu (USF) def. Jordi Ballester (FS), 6-4, 7-5
6) Rafael Corazza (USF) def. Sam Gibbs (FS) 6-2, 7-6 (3)
Order of completion: 3, 6, 5, 4, 1, 2
Players Mentioned
