April 10, 2009

Final Stats

KENNESAW, Ga. - The Kennesaw State men's tennis team finished its inaugural season with a 2-7 mark against the Atlantic Sun Conference after falling 6-1 to in-state rival Mercer in the squad's home finale on Thursday.

The Owls (6-12, 2-7) doubles woes continued against the Bears, as they lost all of the matches four the fourth-straight time. Tyler Mills and Michael Langel made the team's best run at a win, losing 8-6 to Chapman Mitchell and Fernando Armendaris at No. 1.

"We came out flat today, which was a little disappointing," said Kennesaw State Head Coach Brandon Padgett on the loss. "This was a great opportunity for us, but we came up short."

Ryan Bouttell continued to shine in KSU's loss, winning his fourth-straight conference match with a decisive 6-1, 6-3 over Chapman at No. 5. The win was Bouttell's ninth in his last ten matches and moved his team-leading record to 11-3. Bouttell finished the season 7-1 against the A-Sun, with his only loss coming at the hands of USC Upstate's Ramiro Blanco, who is a perfect 23-0 on the season.

The remainder of the Owl men fell in straight-sets. Lawrence Washington lost 6-2, 6-4 to Justin Wimpee at No. 1 and Mills lost 3 and 4 to Armendaris at No. 2. Denis Sergeychik and Langel made strong pushes at early leads but came up just short, eventually falling 7-6(4), 6-1 and 7-5, 6-3 at No. 6 and No. 3 respectively. Simon Janik lost 6-4, 6-3 to Victor Dias at No. 4 in the Owls final match.

"I am optimistic about the conference season next year, and I am proud of the guys for picking up two conference wins in their first season, " added an optimistic Padgett. "We have a solid nucleus to work with, and we have some strong players coming in to help us for next season."

The win was Mercer's second-straight, moving their overall record to 8-12 and their conference record to 3-7.

The Owls will try to wrap up their season on a high note when they travel to Durham, N.C. on Saturday for a 1 p.m. showdown with North Carolina Central and their final match of the year.

Kennesaw State 1
Mercer 6

Singles Results
#1 Lawrence Washington lost to Justin Wimpee 6-2, 6-4
#2 Tyler Mills lost to Fernando Armendaris 6-3, 6-4
#3 Michael Langel lost to David Barton 7-5 6-3
#4 Simon Janik lost to Victor Dias 6-4, 6-3
#5 Ryan Boutell def. Chapman Mitchell 6-1, 6-3
#6 Denis Sergeychik lost to Adam Hunt 7-6 (4), 6-1

Doubles Results
#1 Langel/Mills lost to Mitchell/Armendaris 8-6
#2 Janik/ Andrew Suesserman lost to Barton/Hunt 8-2
#3 Washington/Boutell lost to Wimpee/Dias 8-4