NEW ORLEANS, La. – The No. 2-ranked University of West Florida men’s tennis team (21-2) concluded the regular season with its 12th straight victory today as the Argos defeated No. 31 New Orleans, 7-2. UWF clinched the Gulf South Conference (GSC) regular season championship with a perfect 7-0 record. New Orleans, which is transitioning to NCAA Division II and is not eligible for the GSC championship, falls to 8-8 overall and 4-2 in the GSC.
West Florida won two of the three doubles matches. At No. 2, Leandro Ferreira (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Andrey Pozhidaev (Sochi, Russia) teamed to defeat Vinay Kamineni and Rohit Chivukula, 8-2. UWF’s Ferreira and Pozhidaev form the No. 17 doubles duo in the nation. At the No. 3 position, Argonauts Mike Lue (Richmond Hill, Ontario) and Domenico Sano (Macaray, Venezuela) defeated Dominik Kardell and David Malmgren, 8-3. Ricardo Campos and Hossam Meligy snapped a six-match winning streak for UWF’s Bruno Savi (Santana do Livramento, Brazil) and Kevin Ducros (Aix-en-Provence, France) as the UNO duo tallied a 9-7 victory at No. 1. Savi and Ducros are ranked No. 2 nationally in doubles and are 18-4 on the season.
UWF won all but one singles match. At No. 1, Savi, who is currently No. 12 in the nation in singles, defeated Kamineni, 6-3, 6-1. No. 21-ranked Pozhidaev tallied a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Campos at No. 2. West Florida freshman Elio Latela (Sydney, Australia) recorded a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Malmgren at No. 4. Sano dropped just two games in his 6-2, 6-0 victory over Yoshikazu Ysa at the No. 5 position. At the No. 6 line, Lue defeated Daniel Populus, 6-4, 6-0.
West Florida has a bye in the quarterfinals of the GSC Tournament. UWF’s first match of the tournament will be in the semifinals on Saturday, April 21st at 5 p.m. The match will be held at the Lagoon Park Tennis Center in Montgomery, Ala. The Argos will face the winner of the match between the Nos. 4 and 5 seeds. Results and recaps from all of UWF’s matches at the GSC Tournament will be available on GoArgos.com. For information on all UWF Athletics, visit www.GoArgos.com.
#ARGOS#
#2 West Florida 7, #31 New Orleans 2
04/14/12 at New Orleans, La. (University Tennis Center)
Singles Competition
1. No. 12 Bruno Savi (UWF) def. Vinay Kamineni (UNO) 6-3, 6-1
2. No. 21 Andrey Pozhidaev (UWF) def. Ricardo Campos (UNO) 6-3, 6-4
3. Hossam Meligy (UNO) def. Leandro Ferreira (UWF) 6-0, 7-5
4. Elio Latela (UWF) def. David Malmgren (UNO) 7-5, 6-2
5. Domenico Sano (UWF) def. Yoshikazu Ysa (UNO) 6-2, 6-0
6. Mike Lue (UWF) def. Daniel Populus (UNO) 6-4, 6-0
Doubles Competition
1. Ricardo Campos/Hossam Meligy (UNO) def. #2 Bruno Savi/Kevin Ducros (UWF) 9-7
2. #17 Leandro Ferreira/Andrey Pozhidaev (UWF) def. Vinay Kamineni/Rohit Chivukula (UNO) 8-2
3. Mike Lue/Domenico Sano (UWF) def. Dominik Kardell/David Malmgren (UNO) 8-3
Match Notes
West Florida 21-2, 7-0 GSC; National Ranking #2; South Region #1
New Orleans 8-8, 4-2 GSC; National Ranking #31; South Region #8
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