2008 Bracket

Day Three Results

MONROEVILLE, Pa. - With a No. 1 singles victory, junior Doug Matthews clinched Xavier's first-ever A-10 men's tennis title after defeating George Washington, 4-0 in the finals of the 2008 Atlantic 10 Men's Tennis Championship held at Club 4 Life in Monroeville, Pa. The Musketeers, who played in a losing effort in last season's final match, earn the Atlantic 10 Conference's automatic bid into the 2008 NCAA Men's Tennis Championship.

Second-seeded Xavier held the early advantage, with the No. 1 pairing of Matthews and sophomore Chris Herrlinger besting their opponents from top-seeded George Washington, 8-6, to clinch the doubles point. Herrlinger also took his No. 2 singles match, 7-6(4), 7-5 before junior teammate Ra'ees Ismail prevailed in a hard fought victory from the No. 3, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. That left Matthews with the opportunity to seal the match and he delivered, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

"We came here last year and we were so close," said Xavier head coach Eric Toth. "We brought back the nucleus of the team and our goal has been to put in a lot hard work to accomplish our goal and we did it today. I give a lot of credit to George Washington, they're such a worthy opponent. They have a great program, but for today, Xavier get's to represent the A-10 in the national tournament and we're very excited about it."

In the third-place consolation match, junior Jonathan Luce lifted fifth-seeded St. Bonaventure past third-seeded Charlotte in dramatic fashion with a No. 3 singles victory, 6-2, 7-6 (10-4). After Charlotte took the doubles point, St. Bonaventure received impressive wins from juniors Victor Lecina and Leo Mochizuki from the first and second flight, as well as freshman Enric Larregola from the fifth flight. The victory marks the highest finish for the Bonnies since 2005, when they also finished third.


In the day's second contest, tenth-seeded Saint Louis earned fifth-place in the A-10 Championship after a thrilling 4-3 upset win over fourth-seeded Duquesne. After losing the doubles point and falling behind in the first three sets, the Billikens responded with a comeback that pushed five of the six matches to a third set. The final match rested in the hands Saint Louis junior Sean McManus, who delivered a clutch 4-6, 6-4 (10-7) victory and a fifth-place Billiken finish.

"It took our backs being against the wall to come around and put our energy into it, but I think we needed that final challenge of being down 3-0 to overcome and we did," said Saint Louis head coach Jonathan Zych. "I think that everyone has worked hard all season, especially our three seniors. We finished with a winning record in a really hard schedule, so I'm definitely proud of these guys."

Earlier in the morning, No. 8 Rhode Island topped No. 6 Richmond, 4-0 to finish seventh. The Rams, who finished the season 16-6 overall, took the doubles point and received singles wins from junior Henrick Almstrom in the third flight (6-0, 6-0), junior Andrew Costin in the fifth flight (6-1, 6-3) and freshman A.J. Nelson in the sixth flight (6-2, 6-4).

Rounding out the bracket, Dayton and Saint Joseph's tied for ninth-place while La Salle and Fordham finished with a share of 11th-place.