University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
Cornell
No. 50 Memphis Edges Cornell, 4-3
Mar 14, 2003 | Men's Tennis
March 14, 2003
BLACKSBURG, Va. - The University of Memphis men's tennis team (6-6, 2-1 C-USA) used three singles wins to hold on to a 4-3 victory against Cornell (10-3) in the Tigers' final trip of a spring break road trip, Friday.
Memphis opened with a tough pair of wins to take the doubles point and go up early, 1-0. The Tiger duo of Ben Stapp and Lee Taylor Walker downed the No. 1 Big Red duo of Scott Spencer and Zach Gallin, 8-6, while the Tiger team of Joe Schmulian and Alex Bucewicz posted an 8-2 win at No. 2 over the team of Julian Cheng and Matt Cherner-Ranft to decide the doubles point. The Big Red avoided a sweep in the doubles round with an 8-6 win at No. 3.
A day after beating the No. 64 singles player in the country in a Tiger loss at No. 44 Virginia Tech, senior Ben Stapp posted a 6-2, 7-6 win over Zach Gallin. The Tiger freshmen then closed the door on the victory with singles wins at No. 5 and No. 6. Brendan Malarkey won his No. 5 singles match over Michael Schlappig, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, while Alex Jago downed Aravinda Neuman, 6-4, 0-6, 6-4.
Cornell, which posted its first winning season since 1966 last year with a 17-6 record, spending three weeks among the top collegiate tennis teams in the nation in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association polls, falls to 10-3 on the season and will face No. 44 Virginia Tech, Saturday. Memphis returns home for a seven day break in action before hosting Troy State (8-5 overall). It will be the first home match for the Tigers since their season opener against UT-Chattanooga back on January 31st and will mark the beginning of a five-match home stand for the Tigers which will feature two nationally-ranked opponents (Georgia State and Middle Tennessee).
No. 50 Memphis 4, Cornell 3
Singles
No. 1 - Ben Stapp (UM) def. Zach Gallin, 6-2, 7-6
No. 2 - Julian Cheng def. Joe Schmulian (UM), 7-5, 1-6, 7-6
No. 3 - Scott Paltrowitz def. Lee Taylor Walker (UM), 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 - Brett McKeon def. Alex Bucewicz (UM), 7-6, 6-4
No. 5 - Brendan Malarkey (UM) def. Michael Schlappig, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4
No. 6 - Alex Jago (UM) def. Aravinda Neuman, 6-4, 0-6, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1- Stapp/Walker (UM) def. Gallin/Spencer, 8-6
No. 2 - Schmulian/Bucewicz (UM) def. Cheng/Cherner-Ranft, 8-2
No. 3 -- McKeon/Schlappig def. Malarkey/Jago (UM), 8-6
Records
Memphis: 6-6
Cornell: 10-3
Players Mentioned
