FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Alex Kotsuik rallied to win at No. 1
singles to lead No. 2 seed Oral Roberts University to capture their
second straight Summit League Championship with a 4-3 victory over
top-seeded Western Illinois, Saturday at the Rudy and Rhonda
Kachmann Tennis Center.
The win gives the Golden Eagles The Summit League's automatic berth
into the NCAA Tournament with first round action set to begin on
May 9. The NCAA Tournament pairings will be announced at 1 p.m.
(CDT) Tuesday, April 29, on ESPNews.
Oral Roberts claimed its eighth Summit League title and seventh in
the last eight years.
Oral Roberts jumped out to a lead, claiming the doubles point. Cuan
Farquharson and
Dario Beslic posted an 8-3 victory over Michael Tiu
and Michael Schild at the No. 3 spot. Martin Boström and Sean
Ragee-Nelson tied it with a 9-8 (3) win over Clemens Geercken and
Denis Troyke at No. 2. Oral Roberts then secured the point when
Alex Kotsiuk and Alex Dargel defeated Neil Lesinski and Zach Frisch
at the No. 1 slot, 8-5.
Boström tied the match with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Dargel at No.
2 singles. Troyke gave the advantage back to the Golden Eagles with
a 6-4, 6-0 win at No. 4. Ragee-Nelson evened it back up when he
defeated Geercken, 6-3, 7-5, at No. 5, and Lesinski gave the
Leathernecks a 3-2 lead with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 win over Farquharson
at the No. 3 slot. Beslic defeated Andy Jones, 7-5 (5), 5-7. 6-1,
at No. 6 to tie it up again.
The match then came down to No. 1 singles, where Frisch won the
first set, 5-7, and Kotsiuk won the second set, 6-3. Down 4-1 in
the third set, Frisch battled back to make it 4-3, but Kotsiuk went
on to the 6-3 win to secure the victory for ORU.
#2 Oral Roberts 4, #1 Western Illinois 3
April 26, 2008
Dr. Rudy and Rhonda Kachmann Tennis Center
Singles
No. 1 – Alex Kotsiuk (ORU) def. Zach Frisch (WIU) 5-7, 6-3,
6-3
No. 2 – Martin Bostrom (WIU) def. Alex Dargel (ORU) 6-2,
6-1
No. 3 – Neil Lesinski (WIU) def.
Cuan Farquharson (ORU) 2-6,
6-4, 6-0
No. 4 – Denis Troyke (ORU) def. Francisco Ortiz (WIU) 6-4,
6-0
No. 5 – Sean Ragee-Nelson (WIU) def. Clemens Geercken (ORU)
6-3, 7-5
No. 6 –
Dario Beslic (ORU) def. Andy Jones (WIU) 7-6 (5), 5-7,
6-1
Doubles
No. 1 – Kotsiuk/Dargel (ORU) def. Frisch/Lesinski (WIU)
8-5
No. 2 – Bostrom/Ragee-Nelson (WIU) def. Geercken/Troyke (ORU)
9-8 (3)
No. 3 – Farquharson/Beslic (ORU) def. Michael Tiu/Michael
Schild (WIU) 8-3
Order of Finish
Doubles: 3, 2, 1
Singles: 2, 4, 5, 3, 6, 1
--ORU--
