Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
SE Collegiate Invitational
Murray Wins Flight at SE Collegiate Invitational
9/29/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Sept. 29, 2002
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest men's tennis team was in action this weekend with David Loewenthal and Derrick Spice competing in the Baylor Intercollegiates in Waco, Texas and the rest of the Demon Deacon squad playing in the Southeastern Collegiate Invitational hosted by Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. Mike Murray won the top singles flight at the Southeastern Collegiate Invitational, winning four straight matches. Loewenthal and Spice were both eliminated by Baylor's Benedikt Dorsch, Spice in the quarterfinals and Loewenthal in the semifinals.
Murray beat Michael Kwiekien from Appalachian State 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the first round and came back from behind to stop Saber Kadiri from Virginia Tech 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals Saturday. On Sunday, he fought back from a first set deficit again in the semifinals, stopping Clayton Almeida from Winthrop 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, setting up an all-Deacon final as Murray proved to be too much for teammate, Trent Brendon, winning the championship 6-2, 6-4.
Brendon handed Santiago Falla from Charleston Southern a 6-3, 6-3 setback in the first round and outlasted Francis Huot from Virginia Tech 6-4, 2-6, 2-0 (retired) in the quarterfinals on Saturday. He then topped Angelo Niculescu from South Carolina in straight sets, winning the semifinal 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday before falling to Murray in the final.
David Bere beat Greg Archer from North Carolina 6-2, 6-4 in the first round and then lost 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (5) in the quarterfinals. Beating Kadiri from Virginia Tech 6-4, 6-2 in consolation play, Bere then lost 7-6 (4), 6-3 to the Hokies' Andreas Lauland.
Brett Ross won three straight matches in straight sets to advance to the finals of his flight, where he lost 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 to South Carolina's Ben Atkinson. Ross defeated the Gamecocks' Rob Cassidy 6-3, 6-2 in the first round, Michael Kurz from Virginia Tech 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals and Eriz Cohen of Appalachian State 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals.
Andrew Simpson stumbled out of the gate, dropping his first round match 5-7, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3) to Arturo Aguirre from Charlotte, but then won his remaining three matches to capture the consolation crown of his flight. Simpson fought back from behind to beat Appalachian State's Doug Ornsby 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 in the consolation quarterfinals. He then rolled past Danilo Mendes from UNC Wilmington 6-1, 6-3 in the consolation semifinals and stopped West Virginia's Ian Bliss 6-2, 6-4 in the consolation final.
Brian Murphy and Mirko Ivanda lost their first round matches and then pulled out of competition.
Meanwhile in Lone Star State, Loewenthal beat Allistair Jenkin from Texas 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. Spice dropped his quarterfinal match 6-1, 6-3 to Baylor's Benedikt Dorsch. Dorsch then dropped Loewenthal 6-1, 6-1 in the semifinals. The Deacon duo withdrew from doubles play.
Wake Forest will return to action next weekend when the Demon Deacons travel to Chattanooga, Tenn. to compete in the Omni Hotels All-American Championships pre-qualifying tournament. Complete results from the Southeastern Collegiate Invitational are available at wakeforestsports.com and complete results from the Baylor Intercollegiates are available at tennisinformation.com (tournament ID number is 2742925).
Players Mentioned
