April 10, 2008

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - - The University of Memphis men's tennis team (7-12) played its fifth 4-3 match, falling in this one-point decision in a non-conference match at UALR, Wednesday night. Memphis falls to 2-3 in 4-3 decisions with the loss, and has just one regular season match remaining before the Conference USA Championships.

The Tigers got off to a slow start, falling behind in doubles. UALR won the No. 3 doubles match 8-6 and the two teams battled at the top two doubles spots for the first point of the match. Amrit Narasimhan and Charlie Ramsay came back to force a 6-6 score at their No. 1 match, but the No. 2 team of Leon Nasemann and Jimmy Khougassian lost a tiebreak in their No. 2 match, allowing UALR to take a 1-0 lead in to singles play.

The Tigers answered back with wins at No. 5 and 6 singles, but UALR used wins at No. 2 and 3 singles to keep Memphis at bay. Tiger senior Amrit Narasimhan picked up a 6-3, 7-5 win at No. 1 singles, but it would not be enough, as Marko Ballok would also score a win at No. 4 singles, extending his winning streak to eight straight matches, to give UALR the victory.

Memphis will close out its 2007-08 home schedule Friday against Middle Tennessee. That match will be played at 2:30 p.m. at Rhodes College. The Blue Raiders are the No. 68 ranked team in the country coming in to Friday's non-conference match.

UALR 4, Memphis 3
Singles
No. 1 - Amrit Narasimhan (UM) def. Rain Roigas, 6-3, 7-5
No. 2 - German Perez def. Leon Nasemann (UM), 6-4, 6-4
No. 3 - Edson Abrao def. Jordan Smith (UM), 6-2, 6-2
No. 4 - Marko Ballok def. Michael Gaerthoeffner (UM), 7-6, 6-3
No. 5 - Charlie Ramsay (UM) def. Dorian Sovic, 6-4, 6-4
No. 6 - Benedikt Fischer (UM) def. Victor Wibreus, 6-2, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 - Edson Abrao/Rain Roigas vs. Amrit Narasimhan/Charlie Ramsay (UM), 6-6, unfinished
No. 2 - Marko Ballok/Igor Nikitin def. Leon Nasemann/Jimmy Khougassian (UM), 9-8
No. 3 - Juan Carlos Nunez/German Perez def. Jordan Smith/Spencer Heflin (UM), 8-6