The Knights finished up a busy weekend of tennis with a split against GLVC western division foes Missouri-St. Louis and Truman State in matches played at Principia College in Elsah, Ill., on Sunday.

The first match saw the Knights being down to UMSL 2-1 after the doubles then splitting the singles matches 3-3 to put BU on the short side of a 5-4 final score.  "We had some chances at three doubles, and Logan Knott mounted a furious come-back at four singles, saving four match points and being a point away from getting the second set back on serve before being defeated," said Bellarmine Coach John Mican.  Freshman Alex Swords had strong win at number three singles.  "When Alex gets his serve cranking and gets on a roll he is an impressive tennis player and can hold his own against anyone," Mican said.
 
With little time to rest and recuperate between matches the Knights came out strong in doubles against Truman State going up 3-0.  "When we started the singles I could see that our legs were gone, and we were in for a struggle," Mican said. "Truman State was determined to fight to the very end and if the guys hadn't been so supportive of one another the score could have been much different than the  8-1 final."  

"After nine hour of tennis on Sunday and three matches in three days the guys deserve a break, but this team wants to get right back at it to keep improving," Mican siad.  Freshman Jose Legarreta went five for six on the weekend with a narrow miss at one doubles on Friday.  "Jose is playing great tennis now as the Spaniard has quickly adapted to  American college tennis."

Zachary Kuo had a great Sunday of tennis also with three wins in four matches.  His win at number one singles against Truman State was about as close as it gets as both the first and second sets went to tie-breaks before Kuo finally pulled ahead in the third set super tiebreak.  Sophomore Nathan Walroth was perfect on the weekend as he picked up a doubles win and three singles wins.  Actually Nathan had four wins.  On Sunday he wasn't going to  be a starter in the singles line-up so he played an 8 game pro exhibition set of singles while the doubles were being played.  When Jimmy Fernandez dinged up his wrist and was pulled from singles against UMSL, Walroth was called upon to fill in, winning that match.  Against Truman State Walroth won the first set but simply ran out of gas in the second. Luckily for him the match went to a super tie-break instead of a third set.  "If it wasn't for the rowdy support of his teammates who carried him through the final points of the tie-break," Mican said, "it would have been a much different outcome as the Truman State player looked like he could have played for several more hours."    

"After a great weekend of tennis it is apparent that all the conditioning, hard work and countless hours of practice drills and match play are paying off," said Mican.


Missouri-St. Louis 5, Bellarmine 4
Feb 23, 2014 at Elsah, Ill. 

Singles competition

1. Mueggenburg, Nils (UMSLM) def. Kuo, Zachary (BU) 6-3, 6-0

2. Legarreta, Jose (BU) def. Oliveira, Gabriel (UMSLM) 7-5, 6-3

3. Swords, Alex (BU) def. Vidaurre, Dario (UMSLM) 7-6, 2-6, 10-8

4. McLarty, Tim (UMSLM) def. Knott, Logan (BU) 7-5, 6-3

5. Heyburn, Harry (UMSLM) def. Jabaley, Chip (BU) 6-0, 6-0

6. Walroth, Nathan (BU) def. Gorter, Tim (UMSLM) 6-3, 6-3

Doubles competition

1. Mueggenburg, Nils/Heyburn, Harry (UMSLM) def. Gardiner, Alan/Swords, Alex (BU) 8-0

2. Kuo, Zachary/Legarreta, Jose (BU) def. Gorter, Tim/Oliveira, Gabriel (UMSLM) 9-7

3. McLarty, Tim/Vidaurre, Dario (UMSLM) def. Fernandez, Jimmy/Knott, Logan (BU) 8-5

Match Notes

Bellarmine 3-3

Missouri-St. Louis 1-1

Bellarmine 8, Truman State 1
Feb 23, 2014 at Elsah, Ill. 

Singles competition

1. Kuo, Zachary (BU) def. Murphy-baum, Joe (TSU) 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (4-7), 10-6

2. Legarreta, Jose (BU) def. Smith, Griffin (TSU) 6-2, 6-2

3. King, Adam (TSU) def. Swords, Alex (BU) 6-2, 7-5

4. Fernandez, Jimmy (BU) def. Schuleter, Kirk (TSU) 6-1, 6-3

5. Knott, Logan (BU) def. Merchant, Mike (TSU) 6-1, 7-6 (7-1)

6. Walroth, Nathan (BU) def. Busselmeyer, Ryan (TSU) 7-5, 2-6, 10-7

Doubles competition

1. Gardiner, Alan/Swords, Alex (BU) def. Smith, Griffin/Schuleter, Kirk (TSU) 9-7

2. Kuo, Zachary/Legarreta, Jose (BU) def. Busselmeyer, Ryan/King, Adam (TSU) 8-2

3. Fernandez, Jimmy/Knott, Logan (BU) def. Merchant, Mike/Murphy-baum, Joe (TSU) 8-2

Match Notes

Truman State 2-4

Bellarmine 4-3