EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The University of Southern Indiana men's tennis team recorded a pair of 5-0 victories Saturday at the USI Tennis Courts to improve to 8-5 overall and 3-0 in the GLVC. The Screaming Eagles won all six of their doubles matches to defeat Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in the morning and the University of Missouri-St. Louis in the afternoon.
Senior Weston Phillips (Henderson, Kentucky) won both of his singles matches and combined with junior Evan Luttrell (Logansport, Indiana) to win twice at number three doubles to help the Eagles to their third straight victory.
Phillips needs four victories to surpass Ethan Davis for USI's career record in singles wins (79). His 132 combined doubles and singles victories during his four years at USI are just 18 off the school record held by Andrew Majxner.
Others recording singles victories for the Eagles Saturday were freshman Joe Epkey (Greenwood, Indiana) and sophomore Ryan Hughes (Kent, England). Epkey won in straight sets at number one singles against UMSL's Matt Vaulkhard, while Hughes won in straight sets over SIUE's Andy Renner at number four singles.
The Eagles will return to action Wednesday, March 31, to take on NCAA Division I opponent Murray State University. Match-time is slated for 2:30 p.m. in Murray, Kentucky.
Saturday Morning
Southern Indiana 5, SIU Edwardsville 0
Singles
1. Joe Epkey (USI) vs. Matt Warner, DNF
2. Weston Phillips (USI) def. Matt Kuban 6-1, 6-1
3. Nim Shetty (USI) vs. Justin Free, DNF
4. Ryan Hughes (USI) def. Andy Renner 6-1, 6-0
5. Kyle Taylor (USI) vs. Chris Rigdon, DNF
6. Evan Luttrell (USI) vs. Doug Kummer, DNF
Doubles
1. Hughes/Shetty (USI) def. Warner/Rigdon 8-4
2. Taylor/Epkey (USI) def. Kuban/Daniel Lipe 8-1
3. Phillips/Luttrell (USI) def. Free/Kummer 8-0
Saturday Afternoon
Southern Indiana 5, Missouri-St. Louis 0
Singles
1. Joe Epkey (USI) vs. Matt Vaulkhard 6-1, 6-1
2. Weston Phillips (USI) def. Mike Schaaf 6-2, 6-4
3. Nim Shetty (USI) vs. Francis Lam, DNF
4. Ryan Hughes (USI) def. Rajan Saini, DNF
5. Kyle Taylor (USI) vs. Stephen Pobst, DNF
6. Evan Luttrell (USI) vs. Max Bugner, DNF
Doubles
1. Hughes/Shetty (USI) def. Schaaf/Pobst 8-6
2. Taylor/Epkey (USI) def. Saini/Lam 8-6
3. Phillips/Luttrell (USI) def. Vaulkhard/Bugner 8-2
Dan McDonnell,
USI Sports Information
