March 28, 2010

Denver, Colo. - Facing its fourth ranked opponent in six matches, the Pacific men's tennis team could not use the spark of a strong start to lead them over No. 25 Denver Sunday afternoon. The Tigers fell 4-3 to drop to a 4-9 overall record on the season.

"It was a tough loss against a top 25 team," said Head Coach Matt Lucas. "We need more results from the bottom of our lineup to win these."

Pacific jumped out to a lead after earning the doubles point and picking up wins at the top two positions.

Pacific jumped out to a lead by earning the doubles point. With the doubles matches tied 1-1, senior Vegerd Veskimagi (Saku, Estonia) and sophomore Karl-Erik Paaro (Tallinn, Estonia) forced a tie-break against David Simson and Enej Bonin at the No. 2 position. The pair held onto a slim lead in the race to 10 and came away with the win, 9-8 (8).

Junior Artem Gramma (Krivoj Roj, Ukraine) and sophomore Ivan Castro (Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil) were the only Tigers to earn singles wins in the match, playing out of the No. 1 and 2 positions respectively.

With his team down 3-1 in the match, Castro swept Simson in straight sets (6-4, 6-4). The win marked his third straight and gave Pacific a chance to win. The Pioneers needed only one more win to clinch when Gramma defeated Yannick Weihs (7-5, 6-3) to tie the match 3-3. The day's competition came down to the match between Veskimagi and Jens Vorkefeld at the No. 5 position.

The two battled hard in the first set, going to a tie-break before Vorkefeld pulled it out 7-6 (8). Set two belong to Veskimagi as he dominated his way to a 6-2 win. But the length of the match proved too much and Veskimagi dropped the final set 6-2.

Pacific continues play at the Denver Tournament. The Tigers will face Air Force on March 29 at 9 a.m.

PACIFIC MEN'S TENNIS (at Denver Tournament)
No. 25 Denver 4, Pacific 3
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Denver, Colo. - 2 p.m.

Doubles
1. Yannick Weihs/Jens Vorkefeld (DEN) def. Artem Gramma/Ivan Castro (PAC) 8-6
2. Vegerd Veskimagi/Karl-Erik Paaro (PAC) def. David Simson/Enej Bonin (DEN) 9-8 (10-8)
3. Fernando Ristow/Renan Delsin (PAC) def. Andrew Landwerlen/Fabio Biasion (DEN) 8-3

Order of finish: 3, 1, 2

Singles
1. Artem Gramma (PAC) def. Yannick Weihs (DEN) 7-5, 6-3
2. Ivan Castro (PAC) def. David Simson (DEN) 6-4, 6-4
3. Enej Bonin (DEN) def. Renan Delsin (PAC) 6-3, 6-2
4. Fabio Biasion (DEN) def. Fernando Ristow (PAC) 6-0, 7-5
5. Jens Vorkefeld (DEN) def. Vegerd Veskimagi (PAC) 7-6 (10-8), 2-6, 6-2
6. Andrew Landwerlen (DEN) def. Karl-Erik Paaro (PAC) 6-1, 6-0

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