February 29, 2004

WILLAMSBURG, Va. -- Even though the Virginia Tech men's tennis team may have lost a tight 5-2 match Sunday afternoon at William & Mary, Andreas Laulund picked up another win over a Top 50 player. William & Mary, ranked No. 44, improved to 5-5 while the Hokies fell to 5-6 with their second straight loss after dropping a 4-3 match Saturday against Southern Methodist.

Tech, ranked No. 50, narrowly dropped the doubles point to open the match, then lost three of the first four completed singles events to clinch the victory for the Tribe. The bright spot in singles play came in the No. 1 match where Laulund (Sr., Odense, Denmark) routed 26^th-ranked Jeff Kader 6-3, 6-0. Last week the unranked Laulund knocked off Wake Forest's Adam Spice, ranked No. 35, in the Hokies 4-3 win over the Demon Deacons. Brent Wilkins (So., Richmond, Va.) won his No. 6 match 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3.

In other singles results the Hokies were not as fortunate as Soren Spanner (So., Strandby, Denmark) lost 6-4, 6-0 at No. 2 against Sean Kelleher and Arvid Puranen (Lulea, Sweden) lost a tough 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-2 No. 3 match to Steven Kane. Angel Diankov (Jr., Yonkers, N.Y.) fell 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-2 in the No. 4 match to Geoff Russell and Morten Schultz (Fr., Bjerringbro, Denmark) lost 6-1, 6-0 against Stephen Ward at No. 5

Even though William & Mary swept all three doubles matches, Tech almost pulled out two contests. At No. 1, Laulund/Spanner dropped a tight 9-7 match to Kelleher/Ward and in the No. 2 match, Diankov/Schultz were edged, 8-6, by Kane/Russell. Puranen/Wilkins lost 8-2 in the No. 3 match to Kader/O'Brien.

Tech will travel to Norfolk, Va. next weekend for a 1 p.m. Sunday match at Old Dominion.

No. 44 William & Mary 5, No. 50 Virginia Tech 2
Singles
#1 Andreas Laulund(VT) def. #26 Jeff Kader (W&M) 6-3, 6-0
#2 Sean Kelleher (W&M) def. Soren Spanner (VT) 6-4, 6-0
#3 Steve Kane (W&M) def. Arvid Puranen (VT) 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-2
#4 Geoff Russell (W&M) def. Angel Diankov (VT) 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-2
#5 Stephen Ward (W&M) def. Morten Schultz (VT) 6-1, 6-0
#6 Brent Wilkins (VT) def. Colin O'Brien (W&M) 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3
Order of finish: 5, 1, 2, 3*, 6, 4
*Clinching point

Doubles
#1 Kelleher/Ward (W&M) def. Laulund/Spanner (VT) 9-7
#2 Kane Russell (W&M) def. Diankov/Schultz (VT) 8-6
#3 Kader/O'Brien (W&M) def. Puranen/Wilkins (VT) 8-2
Order of finish: 3, 2*, 1
*Clinching point