Bills Win, Will Play for Fifth in A-10
April 5, 2008
MONROEVILLE, Pa. - Saint Louis kept alive its hope of claiming a fifth-place conference finish on Saturday with a 4-0 win over Richmond in the Atlantic 10 Championship consolation bracket at Club 4 Life. Saint Louis (10-10), which reached double-digit victories for the first time since the 2002-03 season, is assured of its best A-10 Championship finish after placing seventh last season and 10th two years ago in its inaugural A-10 campaign. The 10th-seeded Billikens will take on No. 4 Duquesne on Sunday at 7 a.m. (CT) for fifth place in the 12-team tournament. The Dukes, who received a first-round bye, were upended 4-1 by St. Bonaventure in the quarterfinals and beat Rhode Island 4-1 in the consolation round. In defeating No. 6 Richmond, Saint Louis toppled a higher-seeded opponent for the second time in the Championship. The Bills blanked No. 7 Saint Joseph's 4-0 in the first round before falling 4-0 to No. 2 Xavier in the quarterfinals. SLU collected the doubles point with two closely contested wins. Sophomore P.J. Hendrie (New Braunfels, Texas / New Braunfels) and junior Sean McManus (Berryton, Kan. / Hayden) got past Doug Banker and William Minter 8-6 at No. 2, while senior Marcus Fadul (Campinas, Brazil / Lindenwood Univ.) and junior Adam Reeb (Belleville, Ill. / Althoff Catholic) edged Chris Louis and David Berry by the same count at No. 3. Senior Felipe Acosta (Bogota, Colombia / Colegio Andino) and junior Matt Gordon (Ballwin, Mo. / Lafayette) fell 8-4 to Michael Sommer and Drew Crank at No. 1.
The Bills also won tight matches in singles play. Hendrie posted a 6-4, 6-3 triumph over Louis at No. 2, Fadul conquered Sami Belakhlef 6-3, 4-6 (11-9) at No. 4 and senior Paul Feder (Belleville, Ill. / Belleville East) was a 7-5, 6-4 winner over Berry at No. 6. In unfinished singles contests, Acosta led Banker 7-5, 5-4 at No. 1, McManus led Sommer 7-6, 4-5 at No. 3 and Minter led sophomore Sam McSpadden (Little Rock, Ark. / East Carolina Univ.) 7-6, 3-6 (9-4) at No. 5. "We came into this tournament feeling that we have a lot to prove, not to ourselves, but to other teams," head coach Jonathan Zych said. "We've competed well against a tough schedule this season, and we believe we belong in the upper echelon of the A-10. We've gone out there this weekend just going for it and doing our best to prove that. "I'm proud of the way our guys competed against Richmond, especially P.J. Hendrie," Zych said. "He stepped up in singles and doubles. He posted our first singles win of the match, and that was a big key for us. "Our match against Duquesne will be a close battle, and we're looking forward to it," Zych added. "There is a lot at stake." |
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