Tulane University
USF (C-USA Tourney)
Men's Tennis Foiled in Finals
Apr 21, 2002 | Men's Tennis
April 21, 2002
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Tulane University, ranked No. 31 in the nation, was upended by the University of South Florida, 4-2, in the Conference USA Men's Tennis Championship on Sunday afternoon at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.
The contest, a re-match of last year's league championship, saw the second-seeded Green Wave jump to a 2-0 lead over the third-seeded Bulls, but USF battled back, winning four straight singles match to clinch the championship. Tulane had defeated South Florida, 4-1, in last year's title match.
Tulane (18-7) battled to win the doubles point as sophomore Michael Kogan (Kfar-Saba, Israel) and junior Victor Romero (Atizapan, Mexico) defeated Uli Kiendl and Paco Antelo, 9-8 (7-4) at No. 1 and juniors Mattias Westerberg (Lulea, Sweden) and Jorge Lievano (Bucaramanga, Columbia) defeated Jorge Escallon and Nadim Naser, 9-8 (7-3) at No. 3. South Florida's Adrian Meier and Dan McCain defeated Tulane's Hannu Piiroinen (Tampere, Finland) and Goran Vasiljevic (Varmo, Switzerland), 9-8 (7-3) at No. 2 doubles.
In singles action, Tulane's Kogan defeated Martin Wetzel, 6-1, 6-1 at the top seed to give the Green Wave a 2-0 lead. However, South Florida's Dan McCain defeated Westerberg, 6-2, 6-4 at No. 3, and Naser topped Vasiljevic, 6-3, 6-2 at No. 5 to knot the match at 2-2.
In a fierce battle at sixth singles, Escallon edged Piiroinen, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5) to put the Bulls on top. Antelo's 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win over Romero at No. 2 clinched the match for the Bulls.
South Florida, which had defeated top seed TCU in the semifinals, will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, while the Green Wave will need to collect at at-large birth in order to extend its stretch of five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
Results: No. 32 South Florida 4, No. 30 Tulane 2
Doubles:
1. No. 8 Kogan/Romero (Tulane) def. Kiendl/Antelo (USF): 9-8 (7-4)
2. Adrian Meier/McCain (USF) def. Piiroinen/Vasiljevic (Tulane): 9-8 (7-3)
3. Westerberg/Lievano (Tulane) def. Escallon/Naser (USF): 9-8 (7-3)
Singles:
1. No. 23 Michael Kogan (Tulane) def. Martin Wetzel (USF): 6-1, 6-1
2. Paco Antelo (USF) def. No. 67 Victor Romero (Tulane): 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
3. Dan McCain (USF) def. Mattias Westerberg (Tulane): 6-2, 6-4
4. Jorge Lievano (Tulane) led Uli Kiendl (USF): Did not finish, 6-3, 3-6, 5-2
5. Nadim Naser (USF) def. Goran Vasiljevic (TU): 6-3, 6-2
6. Jorge Escallon (USF) def. Hannu Piiroinen (TU): 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5)
Record:
Tulane (18-7)
Players Mentioned
