March 23, 2007

Chicago Wins One of Four in Florida

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The 28th-ranked University of Chicago men's tennis team notched a 1-3 mark on its annual Spring Break tour in Fort Myers and Orlando, Florida.

After falling 7-0 to NCAA Division I Wichita State University in Monday's first match, the Maroons went 1-2 against Division III foes the rest of the week. Chicago edged Grinnell College 5-4 on Wednesday before falling to Luther College 6-3 and Calvin College 5-4 on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Individually, freshmen Garrett Brinker (Granger, Ind./ Penn) and Noah Schneider (Jericho, N.Y./ Jericho) turned in the team's top performances. The tandem won three of four matches at second doubles, and each player split four singles matches (Brinker #3, Schneider #4).

Chicago now stands at 5-6 overall, 4-4 against Central Region competition.

Wichita State 7, Chicago 0

Singles competition
1. Goran Vujaklija (WICHITA) def. Vivek Venkataraman (UCM) 6-0, 6-1
2. Tiago Espirito Santo (WICHITA) def. Steve Saltarelli (UCM) 6-2, 6-2
3. Boris Gubic (WICHITA) def. Garrett Brinker (UCM) 7-5, 6-2
4. Thiago Dos Santos (WICHITA) def. Noah Schneider (UCM) 6-0, 6-2
5. Albert Ballesta (WICHITA) def. Bharath Sithian (UCM) 6-0, 6-1
6. Kevin Gardner (WICHITA) def. Alex Winney (UCM) 6-3, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. Gubic/ Vujaklija (WICHITA) def. Saltarelli/ Venkataraman (UCM) 8-0
2. Ballesta/ Dos Santos (WICHITA) def. Brinker/ Schneider (UCM) 8-5
3. Espirito Santo/ Gardner (WICHITA) def. Sithian/ Winney (UCM) 8-5

Chicago 5, Grinnell 4

Singles competition
1. Nate Fox (GRINNELL) def. Vivek Venkataraman (UCM) 6-4, 6-2
2. Eli Best (GRINNELL) def. Steve Saltarelli (UCM) 3-6, 7-5, 6-2
3. Garrett Brinker (UCM) def. D.J. Warden (GRINNELL) 6-4, 7-6
4. Noah Schneider (UCM) def. Sam Raife (GRINNELL) 7-5, 3-6, 6-4
5. Eric Ohrn (GRINNELL) def. Bharath Sithian (UCM) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
6. Alex Winney (UCM) def. Joe Jankolovits (GRINNELL) 6-4, 7-6

Doubles competition
1. Saltarelli/ Venkataraman (UCM) def. Fox/ Warden (GRINNELL) 9-8 (8-6)
2. Brinker/ Schneider (UCM) def. Ohrn/ Raife (GRINNELL) 8-5
3. Best/Jordan Lee (GRINNELL) def. Tchan/ Winney (UCM) 8-4

Luther 6, Chicago 3

Singles competition
1. Maxwell Busch (LUTHER) def. Vivek Venkataraman (UCM) 6-4, 1-6, 6-1
2. Steve Saltarelli (UCM) def. Jono Martin (LUTHER) 6-3, 6-2
3. Utsab Rijal (LUTHER) def. Garrett Brinker (UCM) 6-1, 7-5
4. Thomas Orser (LUTHER) def. Noah Schneider (UCM) 6-3, 6-4
5. Bharath Sithian (UCM) def. Jared Wiklund (LUTHER) 6-1, 7-5
6. Brad Nelson (LUTHER) def. Alex Winney (UCM) 7-5, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. Busch/ Martin (LUTHER) def. Saltarelli/ Venkataraman (UCM) 8-4
2. Brinker/ Schneider (UCM) def. Nelson/ Rijal (LUTHER) 9-8
3. Derek Hoffman/ Wiklund (LUTHER) def. Sithian/ Winney (UCM) 8-4

Calvin 5, Chicago 4

Singles competition
1. Ricky Tilton (CALVIN) def. Vivek Venkataraman (UCM) 6-4, 7-5
2. Marcus Zeilstra (CALVIN) def. Steve Saltarelli (UCM) 1-6, 6-0, 6-0
3. Garrett Brinker (UCM) def. Rafael Siebenschein (CALVIN) 6-4, 6-3
4. Noah Schneider (UCM) def. Steve DeMaagd (CALVIN) 7-6 (7-4), 6-1
5. Bharath Sithian (UCM) def. Mike Goorhouse (CALVIN) 6-1, 6-3
6. Don Volkema (CALVIN) def. Connor Farrell (UCM) 6-4, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. Tilton/ Zeilstra (CALVIN) def. Saltarelli/ Venkataraman (UCM) 8-2
2. Brinker/ Schneider (UCM) def. DeMaagd/ Siebenschein (CALVIN) 8-2
3. David Sneller/ Volkema (CALVIN) def. Tchan/ Winney (UCM) 8-5