Feb. 13, 2009

Fayetteville, Ark. - The Pacific men's tennis team defeated Wichita State, 5-2, on Friday, Feb. 13 at Coleman Tennis Complex, earning the second victory in a row for first-year head coach Matt Lucas.

Pacific improved to 2-1 on the season, while Wichita State dropped to 0-3 overall.

The Tigers took two out of three matches to win the doubles point, before winning four out of the six singles matches.

The doubles match saw junior Renan Delsin (Santa Cruz da Conceicao, Brazil) and senior Moritz Starke (Bamberg, Germany) defeat Michal Zawadzki and Jonathan Obrist, 8-5 at the No. 1 position. The Tigers also saw victory at the No. 3 position when freshmen Christian Kuehne (Morbach, Germany) and Karl-Erik Paaro (Tallinn, Estonia) defeated Matt Teivans and David Cavalcanti, 8-2.

Two players earned straight-set victories for Pacific on the day. Starke continued his success in singles action, defeating Zawadzki 6-2, 6-1 at the No. 1 spot. At No. 5, Paaro earned a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Teivans. Paaro finished first on the afternoon, followed by Starke, giving the Tigers three quick points in the match.

Also earning points for the Tigers were Delsin and sophomore Artem Gramma (Krivoj Roj, Ukraine). Delsin defeated Adrian Chermaci 4-6, 6-4, 7-3 and at the No. 2 Gramma defeated Obrist 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.

The Tigers will next see action on their road swing on Sunday, Feb. 15, as they face off against Arkansas at Coleman Tennis Complex at 1 p.m.

Men's Tennis Results
Doubles: (Pacific wins doubles point, 2-1)
1. Moritz Starke / Renan Delsin (PAC) def. Michal Zawadzki / Jonathan Obrist (WSU), 8-5
2. Adrian Chermaci / Vlad Marinescu (WSU) def. Artem Gramma / Ryan Kim (PAC), 8-5
3. Karl-Erik Paaro / Christian Kuehne (PAC) def. Matt Teivans / David Cavalcanti (WSU), 8-2

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1

Singles:
1. Moritz Starke (PAC) def. Michal Zawadzki (WSU), 6-2, 6-1
2. Artem Gramma (PAC) def. Jonathan Obrist (WSU), 5-7, 6-2, 6-2
3. Vlad Marinescu (WSU) def. Vegerd Veskimagi (PAC), 6-4, 6-4
4. Renan Delsin (PAC) def. Adrian Chermaci (WSU), 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3)
5. Karl-Erik Paaro (PAC) def. Matt Teivans (WSU), 6-1, 6-1
6. David Cavalcanti (WSU) def. Christian Kuehne (PAC), 6-2, 6-2

Order of finish: 5, 1, 6, 3, 2, 4