March 12, 2008

IRVINE, Calif. ----- The UAB men's tennis team lost the doubles point but rallied to win five of six singles matches en route to a 5-2 win over No. 57 California-Irvine here Wednesday at Anteater Tennis Stadium.

Blazer sophomore Thomas Petrich won a hard-fought 7-6, 7-6 match at No. 6 singles over Zac Tsai to provide the clinching victory for UAB (6-1). After losing the doubles point, the Blazers quickly fought back to take a 2-1 lead with singles wins at No. 3 (by Dan Cornei over Khunpol Issara, 7-6, 6-0) and at No. 5 (by Brian Ly over Trevor Dobson, 6-3, 7-5).

The Anteaters took a 1-0 lead with wins at No. 1 and 2 doubles. Alex Sundling and Khunpol Issara downed UAB's Tyrone Ewels and Slawomir Szeremeta, 8-4, at the No. 1 spot. UCI also got a win at No. 2 doubles as Douglas Taylor and Dobson teamed to beat the Blazers' Ly and Johannes Spangenberg, also by an 8-4 score.

The Blazers were 8-6 winners at No. 3 doubles with Cornei and Alex Emery defeating Ajay Ahluwalia and Lamm.

Spangenberg (No. 1) and Ewels (No. 4) also were singles winners for UAB. Spangenberg outlasted Sundling at No. 1 singles, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4. Ewels ralliued from a 5-2 deficit in the second set and down two breaks to defeat Stephen Stege, 6-4, 7-5.

UCI (4-7) got its only singles win at No. 2 as Victor Lamm downed UAB's Slawomir Szeremeta in three sets, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.

"We came back strong after doubles," said UAB head coach Derek Tarr. "I thought we were a little flat at first and I was concerned we might be a bit tired today after traveling out here all day yesterday. But we played well in singles and got a good win over a ranked team."

The Blazers will be back in action Thursday when they take on Gonzaga, also to be played at Irvine, Calif.

UAB 5, No. 57 UC Irvine 2

Singles

No. 1 Johannes Spangenberg (UAB) def. Alex Sundling (UCI) 6-7, 6-4, 6-4

No. 2 Victor Lamm (UCI) def. Slawomir Szeremeta (UAB) 7-5, 2-6, 6-3

No. 3 Dan Cornei (UAB) def. Khunpol Issara (UCI) 7-6, 6-0

No. 4 Tyrone Ewels (UAB) def. Stephen Stege (UCI) 6-4, 7-5

No. 5 Brian Ly (UAB) def. Trevor Dobson (UCI) 6-3, 7-5

No. 6 Thomas Petrich (UAB) def. Zac Tsai (UCI) 7-6, 7-6

Doubles

No. 1 Sundling/Issara (UCI) def. Szeremeta/Ewels (UAB) 8-4

No. 2 Douglas Taylor/Dobson (UCI) def. Spangenberg/Ly (UAB) 8-4

No. 3 Cornei/Alex Emery (UAB) def. Ajay Ahluwalia/Lamm (UCI) 8-6