Leathernecks capture pair of weekend wins

MACOMB, Ill. - The Western Illinois men's tennis team captured a pair of weekend wins, Saturday, over Elmhurst College and North Central College before falling to No. 38 Wisconsin, Sunday.

The Fighting Leathernecks opened weekend competition with a 9-0 shutout over Elmhurst College, Saturday at 1 p.m. Jeff Cote and Francisco Ortiz won No. 1 and 2 singles, respectively, each with scores of 6-2 and 6-1. Jim Capalbo, Alejandro Buceta and Dino Ilecic each won positions four, five and six, shutting out at least one set apiece. In doubles play, Patrick Hammers and Ilecic walked away with the largest deficit as they took No. 2 doubles, 8-2.

Later in the day, the Leathernecks traveled to North Central College where they won 7-2. North Central earned its only points in the No. 1 position in both singles and doubles. Western's Ortiz came out on top of a three-set match at No. 2 singles, 4-6, 6-3 and 1-0 (8). Azevedo won No. 3 singles 6-3 in each set. Capalbo, Buceta and Ilecic rounded out singles play with a win each. Hammers and Ilecic repeated the doubles victory recorded earlier in the day as they won the No. 2 position with a score of 8-2. Cote and Buceta also won a doubles set at the No. 3 spot, 8-6.

“This was a unique and challenging day for us,” Western Illinois head coach Michael Hunt said. “We started out playing on indoor clay and ended up playing on indoor carpet. It's hard to have a much bigger difference in surfaces than that, but we weathered it and actually played pretty well, despite the difficulty. North Central played us tough. They are well-coached (by Mike Patrick) and have some tough players at the top of their lineup. I was happy to get a couple of wins under our belt before playing a Top-40 ranked team in Wisconsin.”

Western suffered a 6-0 loss at No. 38 Wisconsin, Sunday in Madison, Wis. Cote came the closest to earning a point for the Leathernecks, but fell 6-4 and 6-1 at No. 1 singles. Mandela Shepard was defeated, 6-1 and 6-0 at No. 2 singles and Ortiz, Azevedo and Hammers fell at No. 3, 4 and 5, respectively. Capalbo dropped the No. 6 singles flight 6-1 in each set. Doubles were not played.

“When you play a Top-40 nationally ranked team, you really have to go for your shots and take chances. I thought Jeff (Cote) and Jim (Capalbo) did a good job of that, but we just didn't do it enough overall,” Hunt said. “I'm disappointed we didn't get to play doubles, but sometimes that's the price you have to pay in order to play a Big Ten team. Overall, it was a good weekend for us. We competed hard and are getting closer to being ready for conference play.”

The Leathernecks travel to Purdue for a 1 p.m. match in Indianapolis, March 21, before opening Summit League action, March 26, against Centenary in Indianapolis.

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Players Mentioned

Dino Ilecic: PLAYER; 6' 0"; Freshman

Francisco Ortiz: PLAYER; Junior

Patrick Hammers: PLAYER; Sophomore

Jim Capalbo: PLAYER; Sophomore

Jeff Cote: PLAYER; Junior

Alejandro Buceta: PLAYER; Junior

Players Mentioned

Dino Ilecic
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: PLAYER

Francisco Ortiz
: Junior
: PLAYER

Patrick Hammers
: Sophomore
: PLAYER

Jim Capalbo
: Sophomore
: PLAYER

Jeff Cote
: Junior
: PLAYER

Alejandro Buceta
: Junior
: PLAYER