Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Valparaiso sent its seniors off on a high note on Wednesday afternoon with a 5-2 victory over IUPUI at the Valpo Tennis Complex, the Crusaders’ third straight win and fourth in its last five matches.

Valpo jumped on top winning a tight doubles point.  Jose Gaspar (Sao Paulo, Brazil/CEAD H.S.) and Eric Honert (Arvada, Colo./Ralston Valley H.S.) teamed for an 8-3 victory over Joe Hammond and Bren Vasalakis.  IUPUI matched the victory with one of its own at the third spot as Daniel Klingenberg and Ivan Mojsejev downed Kevin DeHerrera (Littleton, Colo./Chatfield H.S.) and Kyle Stump (Plymouth, Ind./Plymouth H.S.) 8-4.

The decisive doubles match at the second spot went to a tie-break.  Joel Modesitt and Nick Volz of IUPUI jumped on top 3-0 in the tie-break but Chris Baum (Charlotte, N.C./Providence H.S.) and Adam Whitmer (Shipshewana, Ind./Westview H.S.) stormed back to capture the point for the Crusaders with a 9-8 (5) victory.

IUPUI (7-15) tied the match at one as Chase Emerson downed Whitmer 6-3, 6-1 at number five singles.  The Crusaders took control though, as Honert cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 win at the fourth spot against Vasalakis.  Stump, one of two seniors playing in their final home match, put the Brown and Gold within a point of the victory with a 6-1, 6-3 triumph over Hammond at sixth singles.  The other senior, Gaspar, then clinched a win over Mojsejev by the same score at the top of the lineup.

Valpo added a win at number three as DeHerrera posted a 7-5, 2-6, 12-10 triumph over Modesitt while IUPUI won its other point at number two as Volz defeated Baum 2-6, 7-6 (5), 10-1.

“It’s nice to send our seniors out with a win,” head coach Jim Daugherty said.  “This team fought hard today for the win and we’ll look to carry this momentum into conference play this weekend.”

Valparaiso (9-11) will head out on the road to wrap up the regular season this weekend with a pair of matches.  First up is Butler on Saturday morning in Indianapolis, Ind. with first serve slated for 9 a.m. CDT.