April 21, 2007

Box Score

DENTON, Texas - No. 73 Denver defeated No. 47 Middle Tennessee, 4-2, in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Men's Tennis Championships today at Waranch Tennis Center in Denton, Texas. The Pioneers improve to 13-6 overall and advance to the finals tomorrow against No. 27 South Alabama. Middle Tennessee falls to 14-12.

"I am really proud of the guys," DU head coach Danny Westerman said. "We really pulled together as a team. Nejc and Adam came up with big wins, but this took a total team effort. We're excited for tomorrow's opportunity against South Alabama."

DU rallied for the 4-2 win after dropping the doubles point and the first singles match. Morgan Richard and Marc Rocafort defeated DU's Nejc Smole (Ljubljana, Slovenia) and Ravjot Dhatt (Victoria, British Columbia) at No. 2 doubles and No. 11 Andreas Siljestrom and Marco Born clinched the point with a 9-7 win over No. 46 Adam Holmstrom (Eskilstuna, Sweden) and Niklas Persson (Stockholm, Sweden).

Persson started DU's comeback with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Morgan Richard at No. 3 singles. Kalle Rosen (Helsingborg, Sweden) made it 2-2 with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Joao Pailiello at No. 5. Smole gave DU its first lead with a hard-fought 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over No. 120 Born at No. 2. No. 17 Holmstrom clinched the match with 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(4) win over No. 78 Siljestrom at No. 1 singles.

The Pioneers (13-6) play No. 27 South Alabama in the semifinals tomorrow at 1 p.m. MT. DU is seeking its first SBC championship since joining the conference in 1998.

Check www.sunbeltsports.org for the latest championship information.