Men's Tennis: Mountaineers Win Third Straight
March 05, 2003 09:30 PM | General
March 5, 2003
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. - The West Virginia University men's tennis team won its third consecutive match with a 4-3 victory over Liberty, Wednesday afternoon at the Greenbrier Resort.
The Mountaineers (4-5) had to rebound after losing the doubles point and did just that, winning four of six matches in singles play.
The No. 1 doubles duo of Ian Bliss and Tony Epkey pulled off WVU's lone doubles victory of the day with an 8-5 triumph over Liberty's Ricardo Shinozaki and Luis Rino.
West Virginia sophomore Eric Kochanski took care of Shinozaki at No. 1 singles, 6-3, 6-1, while Epkey was victorious at No. 2 singles, 6-3, 6-2, over Rino.
WVU's J.R. Randall survived an epic battle at No. 4 singles over Priit Pihl of Liberty, winning two tiebreakers in a 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), win.
Sophomore Julian Mesa clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-1, victory over Liberty's Kenan Bell at No. 5 singles.
"It was a solid win over a good team for us today," said Coach Ed Dickson. "We lost the doubles point and we knew we had to play a lot better to win the singles, and we did that. Now it's just time to get ready for an improved Maryland team on Saturday."
The Mountaineers return to action on Saturday, March 8, at Maryland, for a 1 p.m., match at the Tennis Center in College Park, Md.
Doubles
#1 - Bliss/Epkey (WVU) d. Shinozaki/Rino (LU), 8-5
#2 - Moylan/Bell (LU) d. Randall/Markham (WVU), 8-6
#3 - Pihl/Malagrino (LU) d. Kochanski/Chris Green (WVU), 8-7 (7-4)
Singles
#1 - Eric Kochanski (WVU) d. Ricardo Shinozaki (LU), 6-3, 6-1
#2 - Tony Epkey (WVU) d. Luis Rino (LU), 6-3, 6-2
#3 - Joel Moylan (LU) d. Ian Bliss (WVU), 6-4, 6-4
#4 - J.R. Randall (WVU) d. Priit Pihl (LU), 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 7-6 (8-6)
#5 - Julian Mesa (WVU) d. Kenan Bell (LU), 6-2, 6-1
#6 - Ernesto Malagrino (LU) d. Kyle Markham (WVU), 7-6, 6-7, 10-8
