Jan. 22, 2001
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Western Kentucky's men's tennis team split a pair of matches in its first weekend of action, falling to Illinois State 7-0 and then rebounding to beat Bellarmine 4-3 on Saturday (Jan. 20).
Western (1-1) split the singles matches against the Knights, then captured the doubles point taking two of the three doubles matches. Michael Lindskog (Sr. / Stjarnhov, Sweden) and Wimal Wijenayake (So. / Henderson, Ky.) teamed up for an 8-4 victory over Bellarmine's Drew Fairhurst and Josh Hutt to grab one of the doubles wins. The Latvian duo of Evalds Jurans (So. / Riga, Latvia) and newcomer Martins Jaunzems (Liepaja, Latvia) secured the point with an 8-3 victory over Brandon Campbell and Mark Gerard.
In singles play, Lindskog once again led the way, defeating Bellarmine's Kyle Olson 6-2, 6-1 at the top singles position. Jaunzens picked up the first victory of his collegiate career in comeback fashion with a three-set battle over Fairhurst 3-6, 6-0, 6-3. Also victorious for Western was J.J. Ball (So. / Louisville, Ky.), who defeated Bellarmine's Pete McHolland 6-3, 6-1.
Western showed its inexperience against the more tested Redbirds (1-1), dropping all its matches against Illinois State earlier in the day. Wijenayake lost a tough three-setter to ISU's Thomas de Liefde by taking the first set in a tiebreker, then dropping the final two sets 6-4, 6-2. Wijenayake and Lindskog also led the way in doubles, losing a close 9-7 decision to Albert Piasecki and Andy Martin. Illinois State returned four of six lettermen from last year's 13-10 squad.
Western returns to action Saturday (Jan. 27), taking on Wright State and Morehead State and then host Eastern Kentucky Sunday in Richmond, Ky.
