Ragin' Cajuns knock off #25 Middle Tennessee

[TopSpinCajun]

There is a match vs. Middle Tennessesse going on now at Culotta, anyone from sports information available with updates? Thanks in advance

[Pup]

There is a match vs. Middle Tennessesse going on now at Culotta, anyone from sports information available with updates? Thanks in advance

can't help you, but Maria Sharapova has got my blood russian

[RaginDave]

No but keep us updated if you hear anything.

As one of the only followers of the Cajun Netters on this board I try to post as much as possible, but I get most of my information off of:

www.collegetennisonline.com It is a very good site, but the updates probably won't be there until much later tonight or even tomorrow.

[NOCajun]

From RaginCajuns.com:

>>>Men's Team Takes Down Another Sun Belt Contender

No. 48 Louisiana-Lafayette scores a 4-3 victory over No. 25 Middle Tennessee to extend home win streak to 16 matches

April 1, 2005

LAFAYETTE - The 48th-ranked Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns men’s tennis team strengthened its bid for its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since the 2000 season with a hard-fought, come-from-behind 4-3 victory over No. 25 Middle Tennessee (13-4) here Friday afternoon at Cajun Courts.

The Cajuns victory was keyed by taking four of the six singles points after Middle Tennessee had claimed the doubles point by winning doubles No. 2 and No. 3.

The Cajuns rallied from a 3-1 match deficit getting singles wins from Shaun Ellison, Kerei Abakar and Robin Ley at singles No. 4-6. Abakar rallied from a 0-1 deficit against MT’s Brandon Allan winning 7-6, 6-4 to tie match and set up Ley’s 6-1, 6-2 match clincher.

“All the credit goes to our players for never losing focus and finding the will to win,” said Cajuns head coach Justin McGrath whose team avenged a 5-2 loss to MT on March 19 in Houston. “At one point in this match I felt we would not win, they were up in singles and had won doubles, but our team kept fighting and we were able to pull out the win.

“I’ve never seen a Ragin’ Cajuns tennis effort like that,” McGrath added. “They are deserving of beating a Top 25 team – which is very high caliber.”

The match win helped the Ragin’ Cajuns (7-5) extend their home winning streak to 16 matches dating back to the 2003 season – the first season under McGrath as the team remained unbeaten at Cajun Courts under their head coach. Louisiana will put its winning streak on the line on Sunday, April 3 against the team that last won at Cajun Courts – Southern Mississippi (12-6).

Friday’s triumph also marked the Cajuns second victory over one of the Sun Belt Conference’s contenders adding to a 5-2 win over previously No. 32 South Alabama on March 13. Louisiana is a perfect 3-0 this season against its Sun Belt brethren – a key factor leading into the upcoming Sun Belt Tournament April 21-23.

The Blue Raiders took the early lead in the match by winning two of the three doubles matches to start the dual outing with a 1-0 edge. The Cajuns won doubles No. 1 with the duo of Dusan Tabak and Abakar defeating No. 35 Brandon Allan and Kai Schledorn 8-6. MT bounced back with back-to-back 8-4 wins with Greg Pollack and Anant Sitaram downing Ley and Ellison to clinch the doubles point.

The Cajuns fell behind 2-0 in the match after senior Evghenii Cordunenau was defeated by Andreas Siljestrom 4-6, 6-4, 6-7. Louisiana got back into the match and registered its first point when Tabak downed Marco Born 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 at No. 2.

Kai Schledorn claimed a 6-0, 6-7, 10-8 victory over Louisiana’s Amanjot Singh to give the Raiders their third point of match and a 3-1 lead.

Ellison’s 6-2, 0-6, 6-1 win at No. 4 singles over Sitaram began the Ragin’ Cajuns comeback.

The singles point that personified the Cajuns effort came at No. 5 when Abakar rallied from an early deficit to give the Cajuns the point they needed to stay alive. Abakar dropped the first set to Allan 3-6, but rallied for 7-6, 6-4 wins to hand MT’s Allan just his third dual loss of the year (12-3).

Ley finished off the Cajuns rally as he cruised past Pollack 6-1, 6-2 handing Pollack his first dual match loss at No. 6 this season.

The Ragin’ Cajuns will seek to remain unbeaten at home under head coach Justin McGrath and extend its 16-match home win streak as the squad hosts Conference USA’s Southern Mississippi at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 3. USM is the last team to defeat Louisiana at Cajun Courts posting a 4-3 win on April 14, 2002.

#48 Louisiana 4, #25 Middle Tennessee 3<<<

WAY TO GEEEAAAUUUX CAJUNS!!!

[NewsCopy]

The 48th-ranked University of Louisiana men's tennis team took its second upset of a higher-ranked Sun Belt Conference foe of the season Friday at Cajun Courts, rallying for a 4-3 win over No. 25 Middle Tennessee.

The Ragin' Cajuns, strengthening its bid for a first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2000, took four of the six doubles points after MTSU (13-4) had taken the doubles point by winning the Nos. 2 and 3 doubles matches.

The Cajuns (7-5) rallied from a 3-1 deficit with singles wins from Shaun Ellison, Kerei Abakar and Robin Ley in the Nos. 4-6 matches. Abakar rallied from a first-set loss against MT's Brandon Allan, winning 7-6, 6-4 to tie the match and set up Ley's 6-1, 6-2 match clincher.

"All the credit goes to our players for never losing focus," said Cajun coach Justin McGrath, whose team avenged a 5-2 loss to MT on March 19 in Houston. "At one point I felt we wouldn't win, they were up in singles and had won doubles, but our team kept fighting. I've never seen our team have an effort like that."

The rest of the story