Pioneers Finish 2nd at SBCs

Sunday, April 20

Monroe, La.

University of Denver

South Alabama

4/20/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis

MONROE, La - The University of South Alabama proved to be a bit better than the University of Denver today in the finals of the 2008 Sun Belt Conference Men's Tennis Championships. The Jaguars rallied from an early deficit to claim its 18th SBC title with a 4-2 win over top-seed Denver at ULM’s Heard Stadium.

"South Alabama was just too good today," DU head coach Danny Westerman said. "We got a great start to the match, but South Al stepped up and beat us. We competed very hard and did everything we could, but today was not our day. Hopefully, our season will continue with an at-large bid to the NCAA championships because our guys absolutely deserve it."

Denver’s Adam Holmstrom (Eskilstuna, Sweden) and Niklas Persson (Stockholm, Sweden) made short work of RJ Nagel and Jack Baker win an 8-1 at No. 1 doubles. USA struck back by claiming a win at No. 2 doubles, but Denver clinched the point as Kalle Rosen (Helsingborg, Sweden) and Benny Althaus (Saarbrucken, Germany) defeated Aaron Krisam and Michael O’Brien 8-6 at No. 3.

Denver took a 2-0 advantage when Rosen defeated Michael O’Brien 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6 singles.

The rest of the match belonged to South Alabama, who defeated the Pioneers in last season's final as well.

Robert Hodel defeated Niklas Persson 7-5, 6-0 at No. 2 singles and USA then tied the match at 2-2 when Baker defeated Holmstrom 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 at No. 1.  

USA would take a 3-2 advantage in the match when Nagel defeated Althaus 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 4. The match was clinched when Marek Sramek defeated David Simson (Vienna, Austria) 7-5, 6-3 on the No. 3 court. Sramek was named the Tournament’s MVP for his efforts.

Denver (18-6) will learn its NCAA fate when the selections are announced on ESPNews on April 29 at 12 p.m. MT.