March 20, 2005
Results
SAN ANTONIO - A sweep of the doubles action was not enough to lift the Lamar men's tennis team past New Mexico State on Sunday morning, as the Aggies pulled out a 4-3 non-conference win at the UTSA Tennis Center.
The loss was the third straight for LU, who fell to 8-8 on the year. New Mexico State improved to 2-8 for the spring with the win. Lamar returns to action on Friday, Apr. 1 with a 5 p.m. non-conference tilt at Rice University.
Due to weather concerns Sunday's match began with singles play where the Aggies took four of the six matches to clinch the team victory. Senior Ignacio Melus kept his four-match winning streak alive with a straight set win over NMSU's Ben Archer-Clowes at the No. 3 position, 6-4 and 6-2. Melus is now 9-6 for the year, with all 15 matches played at the third spot. Senior Christian Olivier earned the Cardinals' only other singles win with a 6-2, 6-1 victory at the No. 6 slot. A native of Mexico City, Mexico, Olivier downed NMSU's Jeff Pfeifer for his sixth win of the year.
The Aggies posted straight set wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, as Lamar's Juan Pablo Alatorre and Emilio Kirby both suffered losses. Senior Dean Clower won the first set of his No. 4 match, 6-4, but NMSU's Luis Avila recorded back-to-back 6-4 victories in the second and third sets to earn the victory. LU's Emmanuel Olivier came back from a 7-5 first-set loss to win the second set, 7-6. But unfortunately for Olivier, the Aggies' Jorge Williams pulled out the win with a 6-3 triumph in the third set.
With the outcome of the match already determined, the Cardinals swept the three doubles matches to make the final score, 4-3. Melus and Clower earned a default win at the No. 1 slot after NMSU's top squad suffered an injury. Kirby and Alatorre won their second doubles match of the weekend at the No. 2, knocking off the Aggies' Stjepan Beg and Williams, 8-6. LU also earned the win at the No. 3 with an 8-4 decision by Christian Olivier and David Wanja. It was the Cardinal pair's fifth win of the season.
New Mexico State 4, Lamar University 3
Singles competition:
1. Danilo Zivanovic (NMSU) def. Juan Pablo Alatorre (LAMAR) 6-4, 6-3
2. Stjepan Beg (NMSU) def. Emilio Kirby (LAMAR) 6-2, 6-3
3. Ignacio Melus (LAMAR) def. Ben Archer-Clowes (NMSU) 6-4, 6-2
4. Luis Avila (NMSU) def. Dean Clower (LAMAR) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
5. Jorge Williams (NMSU) def. Emmanuel Olivier (LAMAR) 7-5, 6-7, 6-3
6. Christian Olivier (LAMAR) def. Jeff Pfeifer (NMSU) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles competition:
1. Melus/Clower (LAMAR) def. Zivanovic/Archer-Clowes (NMSU), by default
2. Kirby/Alatorre (LAMAR) def. Beg/Williams (NMSU) 8-6
3. Olivier/Wanja (LAMAR) def. Avila/Pfeifer (NMSU) 8-4
