April 17, 2004

The University of Denver men's tennis team dropped a 5-2 decision to the Colorado Buffaloes this afternoon at Stapleton Tennis Pavilion. The Buffs captured the doubles point and won four singles matches to get the in-state win. Denver falls 13-9 and will head to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament on April 23.

"Colorado played really well to get the win," head coach Geoff Young said. "We lost the doubles point and didn't play as well as we could have in singles. I am confident our guys will bounce back in time for the conference tournament."

Sophomores Nejc Smole (Ljubljana, Slovenia) and Niki Popovic (Ljubljana, Slovenia) recorded the lone points for Denver. Smole, ranked No. 92, defeated Marco Bundalo 7-5 and 6-3 at No. 1 singles. Popovic defeated Elliot Quibell 7-6 and 6-2.

Denver will play at the Sun Belt Conference tournament on April 23-25 in Mobile, Ala.

Colorado 5, Denver 2

Singles

1) #92 Nejc Smole (DU) def. Marco Bundalo (CU), 7-5, 6-3

2) Peter Bjork (CU) def. Urban Ljubic (DU), 6-3, 6-3

3) Marek Dvorak (CU) def. Hans Peter Gaber (DU), 6-4, 6-4

4) Marcos Digliodo (CU) def. Viktor Zetterholm (DU), 6-4, 6-0

5) Chad Tsuda (CU) def. Jason Tan (DU), 6-4, 7-6

6) Niki Popovic (DU) def. Elliot Quibell (CU), 7-6, 6-2

Doubles

1) Digliodo/Bundalo (CU) def. Smole/Gaber (DU), 8-4

2) Zetterholm/Tan (DU) def. Evan Dixon/Tsuda (CU), 8-5

3) Bjork/Dvorak (CU) def. Ljubic/Popovic (DU), 9-8