CARBONDALE, Ill. – No. 73 Wichita State defeated Missouri Valley Conference foe Southern Illinois 5-2 on Friday at the University Courts in Carbondale. The Shockers moved to 17-7 overall and 3-0 in MVC play while the Salukis fell to 8-10 overall and 1-2 in MVC competition. No. 73 Wichita State also has now won seven in a row and ten of their last 11 contests.
Ilija Cuic/Jocelyn Devilliers won 8-3 against Jorge Cavero/Szymon Opieczonek at No. 2 doubles to start off doubles play. Jonny Rigby/Michal Kianicka of SIU defeated No. 51 Tomislav Gregurovic/Tin Ostojic of WSU 8-4 at No. 1 doubles to tie the doubles portion at one apiece.
Guillermo Nicol/Guillermo de Vilchez earned an 8-5 victory over Rafael Cuadrillero/Jeremy Dixon at No. 3 doubles to give the Shockers the doubles point and the 1-0 dual-match lead heading into singles play.
At No. 3 singles, Kianicka won 6-2, 6-1, giving Gregurovic just his third loss in dual-match singles play this season. Kianicka's win at No. 3 singles also tied the dual-match at one apiece.
Devilliers earned a straight sets victory at No. 6 singles when he won 6-2, 6-3 against Dixon to give the Shockers a 2-1 dual-match lead.
The Shocker advantage was pushed from 2-1 to 4-1 after Nicol and de Vilchez won each of their singles matches. Nicol beat Opieczonek 6-3, 6-1 at No. 4 singles and de Vilchez was victorious at No. 5 singles, winning 0-6, 6-1, 6-2 over Cuadrillero.
At No. 1 singles, Cuic took down Rigby 6-3, 5-7, 10-7 that gave No. 73 Wichita State a 5-1 dual-match advantage. Cavero defeated Ostojic (No. 20 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Central Singles Rankings) by a score of 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 at No. 2 singles that trimmed the Shocker lead to the 5-2 final score.
The Shockers' regular season finale is on Friday, April 18 when they take on Drake in Des Moines, Iowa at 2 p.m.
-WICHITA STATE-
