UMSL Drops Two Conference Games

Rivermen Fall to Indianapolis, Northern Kentucky

St. Louis, Mo. – The UMSL men’s tennis team suffered two tough conference losses on Saturday afternoon, losing 5-4 to Indianapolis and losing 5-1 to Northern Kentucky.

Against Indianapolis, UMSL lost by just one match. The Rivermen dropped two of the three doubles matches, as Francis Lam (Kettering, England) and Raj Saini (Victoria, British Columbia) won 8-2 at two doubles. In the singles matches, UMSL got a win at two singles from Mike Schaaf (St. Louis, Mo./Francis Howell), winning 2-6, 6-3, 6-0. Raj Saini picked up a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 win at four singles and Stephen Pobst (Sikeston, Mo./Sikeston) won 6-4, 7-5 at five singles, but the Rivermen fell one match short to lost 5-4.

Against Northern Kentucky, UMSL got one of the three doubles matches as Mike Schaaf and Stephen Pobst picked up a close 8-6 win at three doubles. UMSL lost the other two doubles in close matches, falling 8-6 at one doubles and 9-7 at two doubles. Northern Kentucky then came back to win three singles matches to claim the 5-1 win.

UMSL is now 5-7 on the season and 1-4 in the GLVC. The Rivermen will be in action again next week with road matches at Quincy and at Washington (Mo.) before hosting Vincennes on Thursday, April 8.

RECAP
Indianapolis 5, Missouri-St. Louis 4
Singles:
1. Ross Johnson (UI) def. Matt Vaulkhard (UMSL) 6-2, 6-3
2. Mike Schaaf (UMSL) def. Dustin Guthrie (UI) 2-6, 6-3, 6-0
3. Ketan Saggar (UI) def. Francis Lam (UMSL) 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
4. Raj Saini (UMSL) def. Justin Linder (UI) 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
5. Stephen Pobst (UMSL) def. Felipe Rojas (UI) 6-4, 7-5
6. Alan Dowell (UI) def. James Daugherty (UMSL) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
Doubles:
1. Johnson/Guthrie (UI) def. Daugherty/Vaulkhard (UMSL) 8-2
2. Saini/Lam (UMSL) def. Rojas/Linder (UI) 8-2
3. Saggar/Dowell (UI) def. Schaaf/Pobst (UMSL) 8-2

Northern Kentucky 5, Missouri-St. Louis 1
Singles:
1. Amine Benjelloun (NKU) def. Matt Vaulkhard (UMSL) 6-3, 6-4
2. Oliver Marinkovic (NKU) def. Mike Schaaf (UMSL) 6-1, 6-3
3. Francis Lam (UMSL) vs. Marek Pawelec (NKU) – Unfinished
4. Stephen Pobst (UMSL) vs. Nick Herzog (NKU) - Unfinished
5. Billy Hopkins (NKU) def. Max Bugner (UMSL) – 6-0, 6-0
6. James Daugherty (UMSL) vs Ted Walkup (NKU) – Unfinished
Doubles:
1. Benjelloun/Hopkins (NKU) def. Daugherty/Vaulkhard (UMSL) 8-6
2. Herzog/Marinkovic (NKU) def. Saini/Lam (UMSL) 9-7
3. Schaaf/Pobst (UMSL) def. Walkup/Pawelec (NKU) 8-6