April 6, 2001
Chicago, Ill. - It's a lot of pressure to put on an individual.
But men's tennis coach Chuck Cunningham can certainly sympathize with No. 5 singles player Jason Kerr.
Kerr's match with St. Louis' Sanjeev Paramanathan at No. 5 singles was halted last night at the Homewood-Flossmoor Racquet Club following the second set of their match with the team score knotted up at three.
The match resumed on Friday at Bally's Sports Club and Paramanathan emerged on top with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 win over Kerr to clinch the 4-3 victory over the host Flames.
The match began at UIC's outdoor courts on Thursday where following the second rain delay, the match was moved to Homewood-Flossmoor Racquet Club. Time, however, was of the essence as the club closed at 11 PM. Kerr and Paramanathan were unable to complete their match at No. 5 singles which set the stage for Friday's showdown.
"It's rare for this sport to be in that position to sleep on a match knowing that it's for all the marbles," Cunningham said of Kerr's performance. "But I told Jason that the team put ourselves in that position."
UIC (4-11) received singles victories from Jon Schmidt (Hanover Park, Ill./Bartlett) at No. 1 singles, Nick Bodmer (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North) at No. 2 and Nesar Nayak (Naperville, Ill./New Cambridge) were victorious at No. 3.
"We're through the toughest stretch of our season and I think we have weathered the storm," Cunningham said. "We played some tough tennis, but they were a little stronger than we were."
UIC will be back in action this weekend, as they will travel to Charleston, Ill., for three matches. The Flames will take to the courts twice on Saturday, as they will square off with Eastern Kentucky (1 PM) and Eastern Illinois (4 PM). UIC will take on Morehead State on Sunday at 1 PM.
St. Louis 4, UIC 3 Singles
No. 1 Jon Schmidt (UIC) d. Lance Vodicka (STL), 6-4, 3-6, 7-6.No. 2 Nick Bodmer (UIC) d. Thomas Kwong (STL), 7-6, 1-6, 7-6.No. 3 Nesar Nayak (UIC) d. Michael Hoosien (STL), 6-3, 6-4.No. 4 Taylor Curran (STL) d. Wade Clark (UIC), 5-7, 6-4, 7-6.No. 5 Sanjeev Paramanathan (STL) d. Jason Kerr (UIC), 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.No. 6 Eric Sasser (STL) d. Angel Ochoa (UIC), 7-5, 6-4.
Doubles
No. 1 Kwong/Vodicka (STL) d. Schmidt/Nayak (UIC), 8-2.No. 2 Kerr/Clark (UIC), Paramanathan/Sasser (STL), DNF.No. 3 Hoosien/Curran (STL) d. Bodmer/Ochoa (UIC), 8-4.
