April 24, 2005

MOBILE, Ala. - The University of Denver suffered a 4-0 loss to South Alabama in the third-place match at the 2005 Sun Belt Conference Championship Sunday at the Mobile Tennis Center. However, the Pioneers fourth-place finish is their best in Division I history.

"We lost to a good team today," head coach Geoff Young said. "Our guys have battled through a lot of adversity the past couple of years. To finish fourth this year is something we can be proud of."

The Jaguars took an early lead by picking up the double point. The Jaguars' Clinton Jacobs and Dias Doskarayev took down Denver's Adam Holmstrom (Eskilstuna, Sweden) and Niklas Persson (Stockholm, Sweden), 8-4. Franticek j and David Kepka clinched the doubles point for South Alabama in an 8-5 win over Pioneers' Jason Tan (Amsterdam, Netherlands) and Viktor Zetterholm (Stockholm, Sweden) at No. 2 doubles.

With straight set wins, USA's Jacobs, Doskarayev, and Mark Gellard were victorious to earn the Jaguars third place in the Sun Belt Championship. At the No. 3 spot, Jacobs defeated Zetterholm 6-3,6-4. Doskarayev (USA) captured a 6-3,6-1 over Tan at No. 4 and Gellard's 6-1,6-1 defeat over Ryan Slemons (Woodinville, Wash.) at No. 6 finished the Pioneers.

The Pioneers end their season with a 9-14 overall record.

#49 South Alabama 4, Denver 0

Singles

1) #111 Adam Holmstrom (DU) vs. #19 Franticek j (USA) DNF

2) Niklas Persson (DU) vs. Pavel Mazaev (USA) DNF

3) Clinton Jacobs (USA) def. Viktor Zetterholm (DU) 6-3, 6-4

4) Dias Doskarayev (USA) def. Jason Tan (DU) 6-3, 6-1

5) Steve Flaks (DU) vs. David Kepka (USA) DNF

6) Mark Gellard (USA) def. Ryan Slemons (DU) 6-1, 6-1

Doubles

1) #50 Doskarayev / Jacobs (USA) def. Holmstrom / Persson (DU) 8-4

2) Kepka / j (USA) def. Zetterholm / Tan (DU) 8-5

3) Sam Huffman / Tiago Espirito Santo (USA) vs. Flaks / Kalle Rosen (DU) DNF