MACOMB, Ill. - Fighting Leatherneck men's tennis recorded their second straight win 4-3 over Chicago State on Sunday (April 1). The victory gives Western Illinois a 4-10 overall record.
Sophomore Ben Yue picked up a 6-4, 6-4 win over his opponent in No. 2 singles. In No. 3 singles play, Jim Capalbo earned a back and forth battle 6-2, 2-6, 7-5.
Patrick Hammers at No. 1 singles, Andrew Yopp at No. 4 singles and Daniel Sweeney at No. 5 singles were all edged out by the competition giving Chicago State three points.
In doubles play, the No. 2 tandem of Capalbo and Andrew Yopp won their match 8-5, while No. 1 duo of Hammers and Yue dropped an 8-3 decision.
Western Illinois took No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles matches by default over Chicago State to round out scoring and record the 4-3 final advantage.
The Leathernecks return to the court on Wednesday (April 4) at 2 p.m. for a dual match with Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in Edwardsville, Ill.
COACH KANE'S MATCH NOTES:
"It was a great team win for us today. What an exciting match. Jim Capalbo played a great No. 3 singles match to give us a 4-3 victory."
"Jim
was up 3-1 in the third set, played a little cautious and fell behind
4-3. He then volleyed tremendously in the next two games to go ahead
5-4. Serving for the match at 5-4, Jim had two match points which he
priceeded to lose, and then lost the game to make it 5-5. It's really
hard to come back when you've lost match points. It's so discouraging to
be one point from victory and not win. Jim regained his composure,
attacked even with the pressure mounting, and took the last two games
for the 7-5 third set victory. What a great 4-3 win for the
Leathernecks."
"The unsung heroes were Andrew Yopp and Jim Capalbo
who came from way behind to win the No. 2 doubles match for us, and the
critical doubles point. Andrew and Jim were down 3-0 and then 5-1. They
started putting more service returns in play, and it paid dividends as
they stormed to an 8-5 come-from-behind victory. It was a tremendous
turnaround, and their clinching of the doubles point gave us great
momentum going into singles play."
"I'm very proud of this team.
They've given me their best effort every match this year. It would have
been easy to pack it in when four of your six starters go down. They haven't
done that. And now it's great to see some of our recent additions, such
as Andrew Yopp, make important contributions to our team victories."
