Feb. 20, 2007

Results

Dayton, OH - The University of Dayton men's tennis team suffered its first Atlantic 10 set-back on Tuesday afternoon falling 5-2 to the Xavier Musketeers. With the loss, Dayton's record drops to 4-6 overall; 2-1 in the Atlantic 10. The team had won its last two matches.

There wasn't a Blackburn-McCafferty Trophy on the line, but Dayton and Xavier were pitted against one another in an inter-collegiate sporting event - so it was a good match.

Much like he has all season-long, senior Tom Murphy held up his end of the bargain in the singles competition.

With a sparkling spring solo record of 10-0, Murphy is already putting together a season to remember.

The senior has lost just one set in ten matches, and he continued his remarkable consistency Tuesday by dispatching Xavier's Doug Matthews in straight sets 6-4, 6-4.

The Flyers scored their other point on a singles win by senior Rex Cabrera. Cabrera, who started the season 2-4, has come on strong in the Flyers' last three matches winning three times in a row. His recent hot streak continued against the reigning A-10 freshman of the week, J.T. Torbeck, whom Cabrera defeated in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.

The Flyers battled hard in doubles, but could not pick up a win in two very close contests at the first and second spots.

Senior Tom Murphy and junior James O'Connell fell to 4-3 on the season at the top spot after dropping their match to Xavier's Doug Matthews and Jeremy Miller 9-8 (3). It was the first time a Flyer duo had to take a doubles match to a tie-breaker this season.

It was the same story at second doubles where senior Rex Cabrera and sophomore David Payton dropped their match to XU's J.T. Torbeck and Ra'ees Ismail 9-8 (4).

With a four-match homestand concluded, the Flyers will have to try to re-group on the road. Their first stop will be in Pittsburgh, PA where they will take on Duquesne. The match against the Dukes is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. on Friday.