Bills Meet Saint Joseph's in A-10 First Round
April 2, 2008
THIS WEEK - Saint Louis men's tennis will compete in the Atlantic 10 Championship, which will be played April 4-6 at Club 4 Life in the Pittsburgh suburb of Monroeville, Pa. The Billikens (8-9) drew the No. 10 seed and will face No. 7 Saint Joseph's (5-12) in the first round on Friday, April 4, at 10 a.m. (CT). The SLU-SJU winner advances to play No. 2 Xavier (13-8) in the championship bracket on Friday at 4 p.m. (CT), while the loser drops to the consolation bracket to face either No. 6 Richmond (3-8) or No. 11 La Salle (11-11) on Saturday at 7 a.m. (CT). OTHER FIRST-ROUND PAIRINGS - In addition to the Saint Louis-Saint Joseph's tilt, three other first-round matches are scheduled for Friday. No. 8 Rhode Island and No. 9 Dayton will meet, with the winner taking on No. 1 George Washington in the championship quarterfinals; No. 5 St. Bonaventure and No. 12 Fordham will play for the right to take on No. 4 Duquesne; and No. 6 Richmond squares off against No. 11 La Salle, with No. 3 Charlotte awaiting the winner. HERE'S HOW THEY LINE UP - The Billikens' singles lineup is comprised of senior Felipe Acosta (Bogota, Colombia / Colegio Andino) at No. 1, sophomore P.J. Hendrie (New Braunfels, Texas / New Braunfels) at No. 2, junior Sean McManus (Berryton, Kan. / Hayden) at No. 3, senior Marcus Fadul (Campinas, Brazil / Lindenwood Univ.) at No. 4, sophomore Sam McSpadden (Little Rock, Ark. / East Carolina Univ.) at No. 5 and senior Paul Feder (Belleville, Ill. / Belleville East) at No. 6. Junior Matt Gordon (Ballwin, Mo. / Lafayette) is the singles alternate. Taking the court for doubles are Acosta and Feder at No. 1, Hendrie and McManus at No. 2, and Fadul and junior Adam Reeb (Belleville, Ill. / Althoff Catholic) at No. 3.
LAST SEASON - Saint Louis finished seventh at the 2007 A-10 Championship after entering the tournament as the No. 7 seed. The Billikens defeated No. 10 Temple 4-3, lost to No. 2 Xavier 4-0 and fell to No. 6 Dayton 4-2. Top-seeded Charlotte captured the title, edging Xavier 4-3 in the championship match. LET THE RECORD SPEAK FOR ITSELF - Saint Louis' 8-9 regular-season mark is the Billikens' best since the 2002-03 team carried a 9-10 record into the Conference USA Championship. A FLAIR FOR THE DRAMATIC - Seven of SLU's 17 matches this season have been 4-3 decisions, and the Bills have a 5-2 record in those contests. Saint Louis defeated Creighton, Eastern Illinois, Wright State, Western Illinois and Bradley by a point, while Hawai'i-Hilo and Illinois State nipped the Billikens by the narrowest of margins. LEADERS OF THE PACK - Sean McManus leads the Billikens in singles victories (14) and singles winning percentage (14-11, .560), and Paul Feder carries an 11-9 singles ledger. Marcus Fadul has a team-high 14 doubles wins (14-10), while Adam Reeb (12-5) and McManus (12-12) are tied for second in doubles victories. Reeb owns SLU's top doubles winning percentage (.706). GETTING THEIR KICKS AT NO. 6 - The No. 6 position has produced the most success for the Billikens' singles effort this spring. SLU competitors are 11-6 at No. 6, led by Paul Feder's 6-3 slate. Matt Gordon is 4-2, and Adam Reeb is 1-1. NO. 3 IN THE LINEUP, NO. 1 IN YOUR HEART - The No. 3 doubles team of Marcus Fadul and Adam Reeb has registered the Bills' best record this season, posting a 9-4 mark. CLIMBING THE CAREER CHARTS - Paul Feder has moved into the top 10 on SLU's career lists for doubles and singles victories. Feder's 31 doubles wins rank ninth in Saint Louis annals, and his 32 singles triumphs are good for 10th. Sean McManus is 11th in singles wins (31) and 14th in doubles victories (26). Also ranking among the top 20 on the singles chart are Matt Gordon (29 wins, 12th), Marcus Fadul (26 wins, 14th) and Felipe Acosta (20 wins, 19th). Cracking the top 20 in doubles are P.J. Hendrie (23 wins, tied for 17th), Fadul (23 wins, tied for 17th), Adam Reeb (21 wins, tied for 19th) and Acosta (21 wins, tied for 19th). SEASON'S GREETINGS - With 14 singles wins this year, Sean McManus needs one more victory to move into a multi-player tie for fourth place on Saint Louis' all-time single-season list. Marcus Fadul is tied for seventh on SLU's single-season doubles chart with 14 wins, while McManus and Adam Reeb, who have 12 doubles wins apiece, are one victory away from joining a multi-player deadlock for the eighth position. |
|
