East Carolina University
SMU (C-USA Tournament)
SMU Eliminates ECU From C-USA Men's Tennis Championships
April 21, 2006 | Men's Tennis
April 21, 2006
TULSA, Okla. - The SMU Mustangs, ranked No. 35 nationally, used the doubles point and three singles wins to roll to a 4-0 victory over East Carolina and eliminate the Pirates from the 2006 Conference USA Men's Tennis Championships Friday night at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
The second-seeded Mustangs (17-7) advance to Saturday's semifinal round where they face No. 3 Tulsa. ECU, seeded seventh in tourney play, completes its season at 8-14.
SMU opened the match by taking the doubles point with wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. David Kuczer and Alex Skrypko teamed up to knock off Ricardo Barone and Aleksey Kochetov 8-5 in a first-flight meeting while Federico Murgier and Henrik Soderberg clinched the tally with an 8-3 triumph over Mike Catalano and Henrique Viana at the No. 3 slot.
Skrypko, currently ranked as the nation's No. 48 singles player, fought off a challenge by ECU's Kochetov at No. 1 with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 win to clinch the match for the Mustangs. Skrypko's tally followed Soderberg's 6-4, 6-1 win over Brian Walters at No. 5 and Yevgen Ryeznik's 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Catalano in a No. 6 matchup
Since tournament format policy dictates the stoppage of play once a team clinches its fourth point, the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 matches featuring Viana, Barone and Nick Rose were discontinued.
No. 2 SMU 4, No. 7 EAST CAROLINA 0
Singles Play
No. 1 - No. 48 Alex Skrypko (SMU) def. Aleksey Kochetov (ECU); 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
No. 2 - No. 56 Peter Oredsson (SMU) vs. Henrique Viana (ECU); DNF
No. 3 - David Kuczer (SMU) vs. Ricardo Barone (ECU); DNF
No. 4 - Oivind Alver (SMU) vs. Nick Rose (ECU); DNF
No. 5 - Henrik Soderberg (SMU) def. Brian Walters (ECU); 6-4, 6-1
No. 6 - Yevgen Ryeznik (SMU) def. Mike Catalano (ECU); 6-3, 6-3
Doubles Play
No. 1 - Kuczer/Skrypko (SMU) def. Barone/Kochetov (ECU); 8-5
No. 2 - Alver/Oredsson (SMU) vs. Rose/Walters (ECU); DNF
No. 3 - Federico Murgier/Soderberg (SMU) def. Catalano/Viana (ECU); 8-3
Team Records: East Carolina (8-14), SMU (17-7)
