The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
East Carolina
Blazer Men's Tennis Team Downs East Carolina, 4-3
2/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 24, 2007
ORLANDO, Fla. ----- The UAB men's tennis team rallied back after losing the doubles point to win four singles matches and post a 4-3 victory over East Carolina here Saturday at the Conference USA Shootout.
The Blazers (5-4, 2-1 C-USA) got the clinching singles win from senior Kruno Despotovski who outlasted the Pirates' Bryan Oakley, 7-6, 7-5 at the No. 4 position. UAB's other singles victories came from Thomas Weiss at No. 1, Tim Bauer at No. 3 and Thomas Petrich at the No. 6 spot.
Weiss came back after losing the first set to defeat Aleksey Kochetov, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 while Bauer eased past Matt Peeler, 6-3, 6-2. Petrich also was a straight-set winner over Brian Walters, 6-4, 6-0.
ECU posted singles wins at No. 2 as Henrique Viana won over UAB's Hanns Spangenberg, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, and at No. 5 with Stephen Whitwell defeating the Blazers' Alex Emery, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
The Pirates (4-7, 0-2) claimed the doubles point with wins at the No. 1 and 3 positions. Kochetov and Viana were 8-6 winners at No. 1 over UAB's Despotovski and Weiss while Peeler and Walters beat the Blazer duo of Emery and Petrich at No. 3, 8-5.
UAB picked up a win at No. 2 doubles as Bauer and Spangenberg defeated ECU's team of Oakley and Whitwell, 8-3.
"I didn't think we played as sharp as we could have," said head coach Derek Tarr, "but it's a win and obviously, we'll take that anytime. I think we were still feeling the effects of our match yesterday (vs. UCF). I thought as far as highlights for us today that Thomas Weiss played a good match (at No. 1 singles) and did a nice job against their top player."
UAB will next be in action on Thursday, March 1 when the Blazers play host to Troy at the Brook Highland Racquet Club.
C-USA Shootout
UAB 4, East Carolina 3
Doubles
No. 1 - Aleksey Kochetov/Henrique Viana (ECU) def. Kruno Despotovski/Thomas Weiss (UAB) 8-6
No. 2 - Tim Bauer/Hanns Spangenberg (UAB) def. Bryan Oakley/Stephen Whitwell (ECU) 8-3
No. 3 - Matt Peeler/Brian Walters (ECU) def. Alex Emery/Thomas Petrich (UAB) 8-5
Singles
No. 1 - Thomas Weiss (UAB) def. Aleksey Kochetov (ECU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
No. 2 - Henrique Viana (ECU) def. Hanns Spangenberg (UAB) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
No. 3 - Tim Bauer (UAB) def. Matt Peeler (ECU) 6-3, 6-2
No. 4 - Kruno Despotovski (UAB) def. Bryan Oakley (ECU) 7-6, 7-5
No. 5 - Stephen Whitwell (ECU) def. Alex Emery (UAB) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
No. 6 - Thomas Petrich (UAB) def. Brian Walters (ECU) 6-4, 6-0
Records: UAB 5-4, ECU 4-7
Players Mentioned
