April 6, 2008

Championship Bracket

Photo Gallery 

MONROEVILLE, Pa. - The Xavier University men's tennis team swept No. 1 seed George Washington, 4-0, in the title match of the 2008 Atlantic 10 Men's Tennis Championship at Club 4 Life in Monroeville, Pa. This is the first A-10 Tournament Title Xavier has won since joining the league for the 1995-96 season and the Musketeers have now earned their first-ever team appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

"Obviously, our men's program is ecstatic with today's win as George Washington is as tough a team as we've faced all year," commented head coach Eric Toth following the championship match. "GW was the No. 1 seed and we were fortunate to get by them. This match could have gone either way."

Xavier started off the match by winning the doubles point after taking two of the three doubles match-ups. Sophomore Chris Herrlinger and junior Doug Matthews put together an 8-6 victory over GW's Mustafa Gencsoy and Mark Doumba at No. 1. At the two-spot, junior Ra'ees Ismail and sophomore J.T. Torbeck teamed up for an 8-5 win over Erik Hannah and Ryan Schlachter.

"Our doubles teams played extremely well," said Toth. "The top of our lineup got it done for us today and I couldn't be happier for this team. It is really gratifying when you formulate a blueprint for the season, you follow that plan and are able to reach your goals. It makes it all worth it."

In singles action, two of the top three flights went to three sets but XU was able to come out with wins in each of the matches in order to clinch the victory. Matthews, Herrlinger and Ismail all notched singles wins for Xavier, giving XU the 4-0 win over GW for the title and the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

Team selections for the 2008 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship will be announced April 29 with First and Second Round play to be held May 9-11 on campus sites.

Results
Xavier 4, George Washington 0

Singles
1. Doug Matthews (XU) def. Mustafa Gencsoy (GW) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
2. Chris Herrlinger (XU) def. Yan Levinski (GW) 7-6(4), 7-5
3. Ra'ees Ismail (XU) def. Sam Salyer (GW) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
4. Erik Hannah (GW) led J.T. Torbeck (XU) 6-4, 7-6(5), 4-1 (DNF)
5. Mark Doumba (GW) led Brian Schubert (XU) 7-5, 4-6, 5-1 (DNF)
6. Chris Kushma (GW) led Mike Dieciuc (XU) 7-5, 4-6, 4-3 (DNF)

Doubles
1. Herrlinger/Matthews (XU) def. Gencsoy/Doumba (GW) 8-6
2. Ismail/Torbeck (XU) def. Hannah/Schlacter (GW) 8-5
3. Levinski/Salyer (GW) def. Anthony Palmenter / Brian Starr (XU) 8-6