Blue Raiders Defeat WKU, 4-0

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The 29th-ranked and top-seeded Middle Tennessee men's tennis team made quick work of eighth-seeded Western Kentucky Friday, winning 4-0 in the opening round of the 2005 Aeropostale Sun Belt Championships at the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Ala.

The Blue Raiders (16-6) advance to the semifinals where they will meet the winner of the Arkansas-Little Rock-Denver match, taking place Friday afternoon, Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at the Mobile Tennis Center.

Middle Tennessee won both completed doubles matches and all three completed singles tilts for the team's fifth straight first-round victory in the SBC Championships.

Andreas Siljestrom and Marco Born, ranked 51st nationally, defeated Stan Rabinovics and Mikus Paipers, 8-3, at No. 1, and Greg Pollack and Anant Sitaram won 8-0 at No. 3 over Franco Serra and David Bowman.

In singles Siljestrom, ranked 89th, won 6-0, 6-0, at No. 1 over Rabinovics, while Sitaram defeated Chad True by the same score at No. 5. Pollack picked up a 6-1, 6-1, victory at No. 6 over Bowman.

"I'm very proud of the way we came out and played and I thought we played well as a whole," head coach Dale Short said. "We were in control of all of the matches and it's a good start to the tournament."

#29 Middle Tennessee 4, Western Kentucky 0
SINGLES
1. (89) Andreas Siljestrom (MT) def. Stan Rabinovics (WKU), 6-0, 6-0
2. Marco Born (MT) vs. Mikus Paipers (WKU), DNF
3. Kai Schledorn (MT) vs. Franco Serra (WKU), DNF
4. Brandon Allan (MT) vs. Kyle True (WKU), DNF
5. Anant Sitaram (MT) def. Chad True (WKU), 6-0, 6-0
6. Greg Pollack (MT) def. David Bowman (WKU), 6-1, 6-1

DOUBLES
1. (51) Siljestrom-Born (MT) def. Rabinovics-Paipers (WKU), 8-3
2. (22) Allan-Schledorn (MT) vs. Serra-K. True (WKU), DNF
3. Sitaram-Pollack (MT) def. C. True-Bowman (WKU), 8-0

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