April 3, 2004

The University of Denver stormed past the Montana Grizzlies, 7-0, in men's tennis action late Friday night at Meadow Creek Raquet Club in Denver. The Pioneers set the tone in the late match with strong doubles play to earn their second consecutive win.

"We played very good doubles today," head coach Geoff Young said. "Plus, we survived an early surge from Montana in singles play. The guys did a great job today."

Nejc Smole (Ljubljana, Slovenia) and Hans Peter Gaber (Anger, Austria) won 8-5 at No. 1 doubles for Denver. Niki Popovic (Ljubljana, Slovenia) and Urban Ljubic (Ljubljana, Slovenia) won at No. 2 and Jason Tan (Amsterdam, Netherlands) and Steve Flaks (Colorado Springs, Colo.) won at No. 3.

Denver swept all six singles matches despite dropping opening sets at No. 1, No. 3 and No. 5. Smole, Gaber and Popovic all rallied to get victories, and Ljubic, Tan and Flaks won in two sets each.

Denver (11-8) returns to action on Sunday, April 4 against Northern Arizona at Stapleton Tennis Pavilion. Match time is scheduled for 10 a.m. MT.

Denver 7, Montana 0

Singles

1) #94 Nejc Smole (DU) def. Jan Steenkamp (UM), 6-7, 7-6, 1-0 (7)

2) Urban Ljubic (DU) def. Ryan O'Neill (UM), 6-0, 7-5

3) Hans Peter Gaber (DU) def. Stuart Wing (UM), 3-6, 6-1, 6-1

4) Jason Tan (DU) def. Varun Giri (UM), 6-3, 6-2

5) Niki Popovic (DU) def. Gus Treyz (UM), 3-6, 7-6, 6-3

6) Steve Flaks (DU) def. Sean Stewart (UM), 6-4, 6-4

Doubles

1) Smole/Gaber (DU) def. Wing/Treyz (UM), 8-5

2) Popovic/Ljubic (DU) def. O'Neill/Giri (UM), 8-5

3) Tan/Flaks (DU) def. Steenkamp/Stewart (UM), 9-8