April 5, 2004

Carson, Calif. - After taking the doubles point with a win at the deciding No. 3 spot, Loyola Marymount men's tennis went on to win four of six singles matches to defeat visiting Saint Mary's 5-2 in West Coast Conference tennis action Monday afternoon at the Home Depot Center. The Lions snapped the Gaels' eight match winning streak, handing them their first loss since March 7.

The Lions took the No. 2 doubles match first, as Michael Wojnarowicz and Matt Phillips defeated Saint Mary's J.J. Whitlinger and Vincent Leborgne 8-4. But Saint Mary's came from behind to win at the No. 1 doubles spot, with Andre Sion and Martin Marechal's win over Beau Berglund and Linas Cincenas 8-5. With the deciding doubles match at the No. 3 spot, the Lions' freshman duo of Nico Terrien and Ashton Politanoff battled back to defeat SMC's Rafael Lopez and Adam Fauvre 9-7 to claim the doubles point for LMU. With today's win, Terrien and Politanoff's record moves to 11-2.

But after winning the doubles point, the Lions dropped the first set in five of six singles matches. Terrien was the only Lion to secure a first set singles victory, and he went on to finish his match first, with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 victory over fellow Frenchman Martin Marechal.

While Terrien was closing out his singles victory at the No. 2 spot, his teammates fought back to win the second set in each of the other five singles match-ups. LMU went on to claim three of the five singles matches for a 5-2 victory. The Lions moved to 9-7 overall and 1-3 in the WCC. Saint Mary's, who had entered the match on an eight-game winning streak, fell to 12-7 and 3-3 in the WCC.

Politanoff, playing in only his third singles match of the season, stepped up in his 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over Saint Mary's Dino Ferrari at the No. 6 spot. "I was really happy with the way Ashton competed today," Head Coach Nik DeVore said. "I'm sure he was feeling the pressure of the moment, but he played pretty relaxed tennis overall. He has been working extremely hard in practice to become a more versatile player, which really paid off today."

Wojnarowicz and Berglund also won their singles matches at the No. 3 and 4 spots. Wojnarowicz defeated Leborgne 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, who had entered the match on a 10-match winning streak, not dropping a match since the end of February. Berglund also held off Lopez 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

"This was our most complete match of the season when it comes to competitiveness," DeVore said. "This match, along with the come from behind win over Dartmouth last week, should give us a lot of confidence leading up to the WCC Tournament."

LMU will take on Claremont on Saturday before hosting UC Riverside on Tuesday, April 13.

-GO LIONS-

LMU 5, SMC 2
Singles
1. Andre Sion (SMC) d. Linas Cicenas (LMU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-0
2. Nico Terrien (LMU) d. Martin Marechal (SMC) 6-3, 1-6, 6-1
3. Michael Wojnarowicz (LMU) d. Vincent LeBorgne (SMC) 1-6, 6-1, 6-4
4. Beau Berglund (LMU) d. Rafael Lopez (SMC) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
5. Adam Fauvre (SMC) d. Matt Phillips (LMU) 6-4, 6-7, 7-5
6. Ashton Politanoff (LMU) d. Dino-Paul Ferrari (SMC) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4

Doubles
1. Sion/Marechal (SMC) d. Berglund/Cicenas (LMU) 8-5
2. Wojnarowicz/Phillips (LMU) d. LeBorgne/Whitlinger (SMC) 8-4
3. Terrien/Politanoff (LMU) d. Lopez/Fauvre (SMC) 9-7