Thursday, 01/29/2009

MOBILE, Ala. - The University of New Orleans men's tennis team made a statement in their first dual match since 2005, defeating No. 59 and reigning Sun Belt Conference champion South Alabama 5-2 on Sunday afternoon at the Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts.

With the victory, the UNO men (1-0, 1-0 SBC), who entered the match with an 0-10 mark all-time against USA (0-1, 0-1 SBC), defeated the Jaguars for the first time in school history.

The win also represented the first Privateer victory over a ranked squad since defeating No. 70 Denver on Feb. 21, 2004.

"We have work to do, but I believe we have been working as hard as we can," said head coach Burzis Kanga. "We have to maintain our level of play if we want to be a top 50 or 60 program, but we are on track."

"This was a huge win for us, beating USA at their home court, as there must have been 200 people here."

UNO did not get off to desired start, dropping two of the three doubles matches. The lone pair picking up a victory was the duo of Vinay Kamineni and Oliver Cuthill, defeating Hanno Bartsch and Aaron Krisan 8-4 in the No. 3 doubles match.

Down 1-0 as the singles' matches began, the Privateers went to work, winning five of the six matches.

In the feature match in No. 1 singles, UNO's Calvin Kemp prevailed over Mark Sramek 6-4, 6-1. Sramek was named the SBC Tournament MVP and finished the year ranked 107th in the nation last season.

Kamineni at No. 2 singles and Ben Smith at No. 4 singles had successful debuts for the Privateers, both needing to go three sets for a victory. Kamineni rallied from a set down, topping Roman Bocaert 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 while Smith took a 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Hannon Barstch.

The other wins in singles' competition came from Jose Gaspar and Oliver Cuthill. Gaspar defeated Krisan 6-1, 6-3 in No. 5 singles while Cuthill won by default over Sergio Ramirez in No. 6 singles after Ramirez was injured during his doubles' match.

UNO will play their next three matches at home starting with their home opener on Jan. 28 against Nicholls State. The match will start at 1:30 p.m. at the University Tennis Center.

University of New Orleans 5, #59 University of South Alabama 2
Jan 25, 2009 at Mobile, Ala. (Lubel Courts)

Singles competition
1. Calvin Kemp (UNO) def. Marek Sramek (USAM) 6-4, 6-1
2. Vinay Kamineni (UNO) def. Roman Bocaert (USAM) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
3. Leo Dominguez (USAM) def. Guilherme Rebolo (UNO) 6-0, 7-5
4. Ben Smith (UNO) def. Hanno Bartsch (USAM) 6-1, 3-6, 6-2
5. Jose Gaspar (UNO) def. Aaron Krisan (USAM) 6-1, 6-3
6. Oliver Cuthill (UNO) def. Sergio Ramirez (USAM), by default

Doubles competition
1. Roman Bocaert/Marek Sramek (USAM) def. Guilherme Rebolo/Calvin Kemp (UNO) 9-7
2. Leo Dominguez/Sergio Ramirez (USAM) def. Jose Gaspar/Ben Smith (UNO) 8-4
3. Vinay Kamineni/Oliver Cuthill (UNO) def. Hanno Bartsch/Aaron Krisan (USAM) 8-4