March 13, 2003

The No. 50 University of Memphis men's tennis team (5-6, 2-1 C-USA) dropped a tough 6-1 match at No. 44 Virginia Tech, Thursday.

Senior Ben Stapp posted the Tigers' only point with his win at No. 2 singles over Saber Kadin, the No. 64 ranked singles player in the country. Three other singles matches went to three sets before the Tigers fell, led by a 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 battle from Joe Schmulian at No. 1 singles, while Alex Jago fell, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 at No. 5 singles. Brendan Malarkey rounded out the trio of Tigers going three sets with a 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 loss at No. 6 singles.

The Tigers revamped their doubles line-up for the Virginia Tech match, moving Schmulian up to play No. 1 doubles with Lee Taylor Walker. The duo fell 8-6, as did the team of Stapp and Alex Bucewicz. Jago and Malarkey won their No. 3 doubles match, 8-6.

Memphis rounds out their spring break road trip with a neutral site match against Cornell beginning at 2 p.m.

No. 44 Virgina Tech 6, No. 50 Memphis 1
Singles
No. 1 -- Francis Huot def. Joe Schmulian (UM), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
No. 2 -- Ben Stapp (UM) def. No. 64 Saber Kadiri, 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 -- Andreas Laulund def. Alex Bucewicz (UM), 6-3, 6-4
No. 4 -- Stephane Rod def. Lee Taylor Walker (UM), 6-3, 7-6 (1)
No. 5 -- Michael Kurz def. Alex Jago (UM), 6-3, 2-6, 7-5
No. 6 -- Angel Diankou def. Brendan Malarkey (UM), 7-5, 1-6, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 -- Laulund/Rod def. Schmulian/Walker (UM), 8-6
No. 2 -- Huot/Kurz def. Stapp/Bucewicz (UM), 8-6
No. 3 -- Jago/Malarkey (UM) def. Kadiri/Grant Reynolds, 8-6