Tulane University
Charlotte (C-USA Championship)
Men's Tennis Advances to C-USA Title Match
Apr 21, 2001 | Men's Tennis
April 21, 2001
NEW ORLEANS, La. - Tulane University used a 4-1 victory over Charlotte to advance to the championship of the 2001 Conference USA Men's Tennis Tournament Saturday afternoon at the Goldring Tennis Center. It will be the Green Wave's third appearance in the title match. The Wave won the event in 1997.
Tulane, ranked No. 45 in the nation, improves to 14-8 with the win, its seventh consecutive victory. The Wave will meet the winner of Saturday's South Florida-Louisville match at 12 noon Sunday at the Goldring Tennis Center. Charlotte will play at 9 a.m. in the third-place match. Admission is free.
Doubles has been a storng point for Tulane all season, and once again, the Wave opened a match with a win in pairs action. Freshman Michael Kogan (Kfar Saba, Israel) and senior Mikko Viljanen (Vantaa, Finland), who are ranked No. 10 in the nation in doubles, cruised to an 8-3 win at the top flight. Sophomores Victor Romero (Atizapan, Mexico) and Jorge Lievano (Bucaramanga, Colombia) clinched the 1-0 lead for Tulane with an 8-5 win at No. 3 doubles.
The 49ers evened the score at one as Jonathan McGovern topped Tulane senior Derya Rose (Greenwich, Conn.) at No. 5 singles. However, Kogan, ranked No. 32 in the nation as a singles player, quickly put his team back on top with an impressive 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 1.
Sophomore Mattias Westerberg (Lulea, Sweden) added to the Wave total with a 6-4, 6-1 triumph at sixth singles, leaving Tulane looking for just one more point. Lievano and Romero wore both pushed to tiebreakers in the first sets of their matches at No. 4 and No. 2, respectively, but both emerged with wins. It was Romero, ranked No. 89, however, who gained the most momentum from his win, as he eased to a 6-2 second-set victory to clinch the match for the Green Wave.
In Tulane's last trip to the Championship match, the Green Wave lost to South Florida, 4-3, in 1999. That match was played at South Florida. The Wave lost last season to Louisville in the semifinals, settling for third place.
Results: No. 45 Tulane 4, No. 57 Charlotte 1
Singles:
1. No. 32 Michael Kogan (TU) vs. Ola Jonsson (CH): 6-3, 6-2
2. Mo. 89 Victor Romero (TU) vs. Jacob Nordwall (CH): 7-6, 6-2
3. Mikko Viljanen (TU) vs. Joakim Peterson (CH): 6-4, 1-6, 0-1 (did not finish)
4. Jorge Lievano (TU) vs. Thomas Oggersen (CH): 7-6, 4-3 (did not finish)
5. Jonathan McGovern (CH) def. Derya Rose (TU): 6-2, 6-1
6. Mattias Westerberg (TU) vs. David Bolin (CH): 6-4, 6-1
Doubles:
1. No. 10 Kogan/Viljanen (TU) def. Nordwall/Peterson (CH): 8-3
2. Goran Vasiljevic/Westerberg (TU) vs. Jonsson/Oggersen: 3-7 (Did not finish)
3. Leivano/Romero (TU) def. McGovern/Simon Dawson: 8-5
Record:
Tulane (14-8)
Players Mentioned
