CHICAGO, Ill. - The Western Illinois men's tennis squad opened the 2011 campaign with two victories on Sunday as it defeated St. Francis 7-2 before taking down Chicago State by a score of 7-0.
"Our Men's team showed some outstanding tennis this weekend," said head coach Chris Kane. "Every player's tennis game is stronger than the Fall, and improved from last year as I hear it. A 2-0 start is just what we needed."
The Fighting Leathernecks (2-0) faced St. Francis (0-1) on Sunday morning, picking up wins in five of six singles matches while winning two of three doubles.
"Against St. Francis, winning two of the three doubles matches was key," said Kane. "I was pleased to see the constant encouragement senior Alex Buceta offered his freshman partner, Ben Yue, in pulling out a hard-fought 9-8 victory at No. 3 doubles."
The team of Buceta/Yue defeated Fighting Saints duo Eddie Semick/Andres Stecher 9-8 (8-3) while the Leatherneck team of Jeff Cote/Patrick Hammers won 8-5 at the No. 1 doubles spot. Francisco Ortiz and Mandela Shepard played at the No. 2 spot, dropping their match by a score of 9-8 (8-3).
In singles play, Cote defeated Jake Quigley at the No. 1 spot (6-2, 6-2) while Alejandro Buceta picked up a win in the No. 3 position (6-2, 6-2). Shepard won his match in the No. 4 spot (6-4, 6-2) while Francisco Ortiz did not drop a set at No. 5 (6-0, 6-0). Jim Capalbo picked up the win at the No. 6 spot (6-1, 6-2) as Western won five of the six singles matches.
"In singles, Jeff made only two errors in the first set of his 6-0, 6-2 victory," said Kane. "Alex Buceta and Mandela Shepard are two of our most-improved players. They fairly easily beat talented players at No. 3 and No. 4 singles."
The Leathernecks played their second match of the day at Chicago State (0-1), overpowering the Cougars and beginning the season 2-0 in Kane's first season as head coach.
"We were too strong for Chicago State at No. 3 through No. 6 singles, and No. 2 and No. 3 doubles," said Kane. "However, the matches at the top of the lineup were another matter. Chicago State has outstanding players at the top two singles spots, players with well-known international achievements. The fans present really enjoyed the high level of play of those two matches."
Cote won his match at the top of the lineup (6-4, 3-6, 10-5) while Hammers won in three sets (6-4, 5-7, 10-6) at the No. 2 spot. Buceta, Shepard and Ortiz easily picked up wins (6-0, 6-0) in the No. 3-5 spots while Capalbo picked up a win by default at No. 6.
In doubles play, the team of Cote/Hammers won at the top (8-6) while the duo of Ortiz/Shepard picked up a win at the No. 2 spot (8-1). The Leatherneck team of Buceta/Yue notched a victory by default at No. 3.
"I challenged our Men's team to put in a lot of work playing tennis in the month between the end of the first semester and the beginning of the second semester," said Kane. "Each did just that. Our attitude is great---the players really like each other, and want to win."
"Our level of play is much-improved over the fall. We have a very strong schedule staring us in the face this year, beginning with Creighton on Saturday."
The Leathernecks return to action when they take on the Bluejays at 7 p.m. on Saturday from Omaha, Neb. before heading to Northern Illinois on Feb. 11.
