Saturday, April 10, 2004

Jeff Vrabel (Allen Park, Mich./St. Francis Cabrini H.S.) won his sixth straight singles match but it was not enough as IUPUI defeated Valparaiso 5-2 on Saturday morning at Portage High School.

Vrabel needed a second set tie-break to post a 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) victory at fourth singles to improve his record to 5-0 against Mid-Continent Conference opponents. Joe Venegas (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North H.S.) earned Valpo's other point with his 6-0, 6-1 win at the third spot. IUPUI won the other four singles contests in straight sets.

In doubles action, the Jaguars won the opening point by taking two of the three matches. Vrabel teamed with Ben Dunham-Freer (Fort Thomas, Ky./Highlands H.S.) for an 8-5 win at the top spot for the Crusaders only win.

Valpo (5-14, 2-3 Mid-Con) will battle Centenary on Sunday morning, needing a victory to qualify for the Mid-Con Tournament. With the win, IUPUI improves to 8-10 overall, 5-0 in the Mid-Con.

In other action at the Valpo cluster, Western Illinois defeated Centenary 6-1, Oral Roberts downed UMKC 4-3, and IUPUI beat Chicago State 4-0 to clinch the Mid-Con regular season title.