The Saint Louis University men’s tennis team brought its season to a close last weekend with a fourth-place finish at the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament. The result is the best finish since SLU joined the A-10 four years ago.
This year’s squad also posted SLU’s best overall record in over 10 seasons. The team finished 14-7, matching the win-total set by the 1996-97 squad that finished 14-8. This is the second year in a row that the Billikens have finished with double-digit wins and a winning record. Last year the team ended the season at 11-10.
The first feat has not been achieved since the 2001-02 and 2002-03 teams finished with 13 and 10 wins respectively. The latter accomplishment has not happened in 30 years, when the 1977-78 and 1978-79 teams played to records of 15-12 and 21-10.
The Billikens entered the conference tournament as the No. 3 seed, their highest ranking since joining the A-10. Because of their high seeding, the team was granted a bye in the first round. This set up a quarterfinal match against sixth-seeded Temple on Friday, April 24.
The team fought to a 4-3 victory over the Owls, who just blanked LaSalle 4-0, in the opening round. Temple (13-9) came into the match on a streak of seven straight wins.
The defending-champion Xavier Musketeers were the Billikens’ opponent in the semifinal round.
The second-seeded Xavier (16-7) was trying to reach its third consecutive A-10 tournament final.
The Billikens split the six singles matches with the Musketeers, getting wins from No. 2 James MacArthur, No. 4 Jake Hendrie and No. 6 Bryan Beasley.
However, the team uncharacteristically dropped the doubles point earlier 2-1; therefore, the three singles victories were not enough. The 4-3 defeat placed the Billikens in the third-place match against top-seeded George Washington.
The Billikens prided themselves on their strength at doubles all season long.
They finished 39-19 in doubles matches this season and won the doubles point in 13 of their previous 20 matches going into Saturday’s loss against Xavier.
“It was really surprising to lose the way we did [at doubles],” head coach Jonathan Zych said. “I really felt we had the team to win that match.”
George Washington had been upset 4-3 in the previous round by fourth-seeded St. Bonaventure.
However, they were able to rebound with a 4-1 victory over the Billikens in the third-place match on Sunday, leaving the Billikens with a fourth-place finish.
“This season has been extremely emotional,” Zych said. “It has been a lot of fun and very gratifying, but it also hurts because I know how hard we worked. We gave ourselves a shot this year and I know that we will come back hungrier and willing to fight harder next year.”
Xavier defeated St. Bonaventure 4-0 on Sunday to claim their second-straight A-10 title.
They will face Ohio State in the opening round of the 2009 Menís Tennis Championship. Play begins May 8.