April 4, 2008

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The sixth seeded Richmond men's tennis team defeated eleventh seed La Salle, 5-0, today in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Championships in Pittsburgh, Pa. Due to inclement weather, three matches were unable to finish, however of the matches played to the end, the Spiders went undefeated. Richmond now moves on to face third seeded Charlotte at 5 p.m. ET today, April 4.

The Spiders took wins in both doubles matches that were able to finish today. Doug Banker and William Minter teamed up to take down La Salle's Knarr/Petrusky duo, 8-1. Chris Louis and David Berry also earned the win as a doubles team against the Explorers.

In singles action only four-of-six matches were able to finish. Banker, Richmond's number one player, dominated La Salle's Gennaoui, 6-4, 6-0 to walk away with the win. Also earning wins as individuals were Michael Sommer, Sami Belakhlef and David Berry, all winning handedly.

The second round of play continues today, Friday April 4 at 5 p.m. ET as the Spiders take on third seeded Charlotte. The 49ers did not have to play a match in the first round of competition; the first four seeded squads all receive byes.

#6 Richmond 5, #11 La Salle 0

Doubles
1. Crank/Sommer (UR) vs. Gennaoui/Maula (LAS) - 7-5 (DNF)
2. Minter/Banker (UR) def. Knarr/Petrusky (LAS) - 8-1
3. Louis/Berry (UR) def. Harvey/Hansen (LAS) - 8-2

Singles
1. Banker (UR) def. Gennaoui (LAS) - 6-4, 6-0
2. Sommer (UR) def. Petrusky (LAS) - 6-0, 6-0
3. Belakhlef (UR) def. Glick (LAS) - 6-3, 6-1
4. Minter (UR) vs. Moula (LAS) - 7-6, 0-0 (DNF)
5. Arana (UR) vs. Rivera (LAS) - 6-2, 3-2 (DNF)
6. Berry (UR) vs. Butera (LAS) - 6-1, 6-0