March 5, 2006

RICHMOND, Virginia (SMU) - No. 54 SMU men's tennis team winning streak was snapped today as they fell to No. 20 Virginia Commonwealth, 5-1. The Mustangs are now 9-1 on the season. The Mustangs split a tough weekend as they also upset No. 48 Virginia Tech on Saturday with a 4-3 win over the Hokies in match that lasted almost five hours.

Against VCU, the Mustangs fell at the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles spot as the No. 3 duo did not finish. Alex Skrypko was the only Mustang to grab a win in singles play as he upset No. 67 Georges-Alexandre Israel, 6-3, 5-7, 10-8. In No. 1 singles competition No. 32 Peter Oredsson fell to No. 29 Arnaud Lecloerec, 7-5, 6-0.

"We had a few guys that were under the weather, so I was proud how they came out and competed," said head coach Carl Neufeld. "The long match against Virginia Tech took a toll on us and we just ran out of gas."

#20 VCU 5, #54 SMU 1Doubles1. Lecloerec/Olsak (VCU) def. Skrypko/Kuczer (SMU), 9-8 (4)2. Lleal/Arumi (VCU) def. Alver/Oredsson (SMU), 8-63. Murgier/Soderberg (SMU) led Ripoll/Israel (VCU), 7-6 DNFSingles1. #29 Arnaud Lecloerec (VCU) def. #32 Peter Oredsson (SMU), 7-5, 6-02. Francesc Lleal (VCU) def. Federico Murgier (SMU), 6-3, 6-43. Alex Skrypko (SMU) def. #67 Georges-Alexandre Israel (VCU), 6-3, 5-7, 10-84. Damien Lacombe (VCU) def. David Kuczer (SMU), 7-6 (4), 6-25. Sebastian Ripoll (VCU) def. Oivind Alver (SMU), 6-0, 6-36. Emil Lindgren (VCU) led Henrik Soderberg (SMU), 7-6 (4) DNF

Against Virginia Tech, SMU controlled the doubles competition with wins at No. 1 and No. 2. The No. 3 duo did not finish. Alex Skrypko and David Kuczer continued to defend the No. 1 spot as they defeated Christian Guevara and David Rosenfeld, 8-6. The No. 2 duo of Peter Oredsson and Oivind Alver held-off Nicolas Delgado and Akil Burgess, 8-4. With the two commanding wins in doubles, the Mustang won the doubles point, which came out to be a winning factor as they split the singles 3-3.

In singles competition, Federico Murgier downed Alexei Sergeev at No. 2 singles, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. Kuczer defended No. 4 singles as he defeated Delgado, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4. The most intense battle of the match, might have come from senior Henrik Soderberg at the No. 6 singles position. Soderberg fought against Burgess for a 7-6, 6-4 win, also clenching the win for the Mustangs.

"It was an incredible match," head coach Carl Neufeld said. "It was great to see (Henrik) Soderberg battle and fight that way as a senior. Virginia Tech is ranked ahead of us so it was a good win for us. It was an incredible, intense, tough fight and we pulled it out with the leadership of a senior."

Tennis Match ResultsSMU vs Virginia TechMar 04, 2006 at Richmond, Virginia#54 SMU 4, #48 Virginia Tech 3 Singles competition1. Arvid Puranen (VT) def. Peter Oredsson (SMU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-42. Federico Murgier (SMU) def. Alexei Sergeev (VT) 6-3, 2-6, 6-43. Albert Larregola (VT) def. Alex Skrypko (SMU) 6-3, 7-54. David Kuczer (SMU) def. Nicolas Delgado (VT) 7-5, 2-6, 6-45. David Rosenfeld (VT) def. Oivind Alver (SMU) 6-4, 6-36. Henrik Soderberg (SMU) def. Akil Burgess (VT) 7-6, 6-4 Doubles competition1. Alex Skrypko/David Kuczer (SMU) def. Christian Guevara/David Rosenfeld (VT) 8-62. Peter Oredsson/Oivind Alver (SMU) def. Nicolas Delgado/Akil Burgess (VT) 8-43. Henrik Soderberg/Federico Murgier (SMU) vs. Arvid Puranen/Brent Wilkins (VT) no resultMatch Notes:SMU 9-0; National ranking #54; Match length - 4 hours, 45 mins.

The Mustangs return to the courts at home on March 15 against Columbia.