WICHITA -- The Wichita State men's tennis team rallied for a 4-3 win over UALR in the opening match of the 2008 Shocker Invitational; the second-straight win for the Shockers as a nationally ranked team.

UALR took the early advantage by winning the doubles point. WSU's Tiago Espirito Santo and Adrian Chermaci dropped a 9-8 (4) decision to UALR's Edson Abrao and Rain Roigas in the No. 1 match, while Kevin Gardner and Jonathan Obrist dropped an 8-4 decision to the Trojan tandem of Juan Carlos Nunez and German Perez at No. 3 doubles.

The Shockers' only doubles win came at No. 2, when Thiago Dos Santos and Albert Ballesta cruised to an 8-3 win over Marko Ballok and Igor Nikitin.

WSU rallied in singles play, dropping just two matches to the Trojans in the win. Espirito Santo downed UALR's Roigas 7-6 (4), 6-0 for the No. 1 point, while Ballesta used three sets en route to a 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 defeat of UALR's Perez.

In the No. 4 match, Dos Santos defeated Marko Ballok in a 7-6 (4), 6-2 decision, while Chermaci earned the No. 5 point with a 7-5, 7-5 win over UALR's Victor Wibreus.

The Shockers' two losses came at the No. 3 and No. 6 positions, respectively. In the No. 3 match, Obrist dropped a 7-5, 7-5 decision to Abrao, while Nunez snatched a 3-6, 6-4 (10-5) win from Matt Teivans.

Wichita State has now won six consecutive matches, and will host Oral Roberts in a 10 a.m. match Saturday in Day 2 of the Shocker Classic.

--Wichita State--