Sept. 22, 2009

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Winston-Salem State University men’s tennis team performed exceptionally on Saturday afternoon at the WSSU Tennis complex as they lost only six of 18 matches as they played host to Guilford College in a pre-season tune-up invitational tournament.

Competitors were broken down into four flights and players participated in a round-robin, reverse-singles format that saw the WSSU men turn in several stellar performances.

In the “A” flight, Brian Coxton defeated Will Mason Deese 2-0 (6-2, 6-4) and then defeated Alec Chase 2-1 (6-1, 5-7, 10-8). 

WSSU teammate Ian Hunter defeated Alec Chase 2-1 (3-6, 7-5, 10-8) and followed up the come-from-behind victory with a 2-1 (1-6, 7-5, 10-8) rally to beat Will Mason Deese.

In Flight A doubles action Brian Coxton and Ian Hunter paired up to defeat Will Mason Deese and Alec Chase 8-5.

In the “B” flight, Maximilian Glodde defeated Ben Nelson 2-0 (6-3, 6-4) and downed Jody Cox 2-1 (6-7, 6-2, 10-7) to close out play with a perfect 2-0 singles record.

Teammate Troy Moore defeated Jody Cox 2-0 (6-2, 6-4) and then dispatched Ben Nelson 2-0 (6-4, 6-4) as he capped a stellar day.

Moore and Glodde then closed out play with an 8-2 doubles victory over Nelson and Cox.

In the “C” flight, WSSU’s Joab Odera came from behind to defeat Patrick Childs 2-1 (2-6, 6-4, 10-3) and capped his day with a 2-0 (6-4, 6-0) win over Billy Dennis.

Calvin Brooks found the going a bit more challenging as he dropped a pair of 2-0 (6-0, 6-0) decisions as he was downed by Billy Dennis and Patrick Childs.

The pairing of Joab Odera and Calvin Brooks then closed out play with an 8-2 loss to Dennis and Brooks in doubles play.

Rounding out the tournament action in the “D” flight, Antentor Hinton dropped a 2-0 (6-2, 7-5) decision to Mark Cheong before bouncing back to defeat Spencer Ross 2-0 (6-1, 6-2).

WSSU’s Phi Tran also earned a split as he defeated Brandon Johnson 2-0 (6-3, 6-3) before dropping a 2-0 (6-0, 6-1) decision to Mark Cheong.

Hinton and Tran then closed out play with an 8-5 doubles loss to Cheong/Johnson.

“Overall I thought that we did well.  I am real proud of the perseverance of our young team” WSSU head tennis coach Charlie Schoderbek commented post-match.

“I am real proud of Ian Hunter for coming back from a set down to claim victories in both of his singles matches. As well Troy Moore played some of his best tennis today with his wins also.  Brian [Coxton] and Max [Maximilian Glodde] had impressive wins in their first matches but lost a little focus in the second matches, but thankfully they were strong enough to prevail recording two wins for us. I truly hope that our young men can carry this momentum to Atlanta next weekend at the National HBCU Tournament” Schoderbek added.

The Rams return to action on Sept. 26-27 as they travel to Atlanta, Ga. for the Coca-Cola HBCU Tennis Invitational.

For additional information on WSSU men’s tennis, contact the WSSU Office of Athletic Media Relations at (336) 750-2143 or log on to the Official Website of WSSU Athletics at WSSURams.com.