March 30, 2009

DALLAS (SMU)-SMU men's tennis (13-8) completed a successful two-match home stand at Turpin Tennis Stadium on Sunday, March 29, upsetting (5-1) No. 50 Virginia Commonwealth (11-7) and sweeping (7-0) Prairie View A&M (5-9).

Against VCU, the Mustangs scored the doubles point by accruing two out of three wins, with No. 38 sophomore pair Darren Walsh and Adham el-Effendi defeating Martin Schulhauser and Nicolas Vinel in a close 9-8 duel. Junior Chris Hooshyar and sophomore Artem Baradach picked up the other victory, downing (9-7) VCU's Thibaut Charron and Bobo Delemark, while junior Robin Fahgen and freshman David Costa fell to No. 40 Emil Lindgren and Benjamin Bouhana.

In singles, No. 60 Fahgen returned to the number one spot for SMU to quickly post a victory (6-2, 6-2) over Charron. Baradach also earned a straight set victory (6-4, 6-1) against Vinel. Hoohsyar and Walsh were not as fortunate, battling through three sets apiece to record wins, with Walsh claiming a comeback (5-7, 6-3, 6-2) over Lindgren after dropping the first set.

Taking on the day's next opponent, SMU swept through the Panthers of Prairie View A&M in a 7-0 contest. Mustang pair Fahgen and Costa only relinquished one set to Joshua Chavez and Christopher Jordan, while tandems Baradach/el-Effendi and Cuadranti /Griffin downed their doubles competition, 8-2.

SMU was perfect in singles play, with Baradach recording his seventh consecutive win against Kudakwashe Nyatoti at the number two spot to lead the Mustangs with a 17-4 season record. Freshmen Andrew Petersen and Keith Champlin stepped into the line-up for the Mustangs to claim straight set wins at the fifth and sixth spots, respectively.

The Mustangs return to Turpin Tennis Stadium on Saturday when they take on Oklahoma State at 2:00 p.m., followed with a Sunday match at 12:00 p.m. with Grambling State.