Men's Tennis Flirts with Big Upset

April 20, 2007

BOCA RATON, FL - Florida Atlantic University men's tennis has flirted with a major upset all season. Friday afternoon Middle Tennessee State University defeated FAU 4-3, for FAU's eighth near miss. The two teams matched up at the Sun Belt Conference Championships hosted by the University of North Texas.

The Owls have played eight matches in 2007 that ended 4-3, unfortunately they have been on the short side seven of those matches. Five of the seven one point losses came against teams ranked in the nation's top-100. Middle Tennessee, who defeated FAU 6-1 February 3, is currently ranked no. 47. Friday, nearly three months after their first meeting, the Owls pushed the MTSU to 4-3, with the deciding match at no. 3 needing three sets for a decision.

The drastic improvement among a team of six, who are all first year players at FAU, is evident by the improved score against MTSU. But, nothing is more drastic than the individual court play of the six newcomers. A year ago, under the direction of first year head coach David Komie, FAU's total individual record was 36-107. This season, FAU individuals tallied a 100-74 won-loss record, despite playing a much more difficult schedule.

Heading the way was freshman Olivier Sajous. Sajous set a new school single-season record of 28-4, surpassing the previous mark set in 2002. His lone dual-match blemish was avenged on Friday. Sajous posted a 19-1 dual match record falling only to Middle Tennessee's Andreas Siljestrom in two sets. At season's end, Sajous defeated no. 78 ranked Siljestrom 6-1, 6-7, 6-5.

Lawrence Harradine ended his season 12-8 at no. 6 singles with a two set victory over Alex McCann 6-3, 6-3. FAU was also victorious by capturing no. 2 and no. 3 double for the match's doubles point.

FAU is schedule to return all six who competed on Friday and this week added one of Florida's top high school prospects in Joe Cadogan.

Doubles
No. 1 Andreas Siljestrom/Marco Born (MT) def. Lawrence Harradine/Corey Smith (FAU) 8-5
No. 2 Olivier Sajous/Daniel Vardag (FAU) def. Morgan Richard/Marc Rocafort (MT) 8-4
No. 3 Karol Szmurlo/Eddie Majcher (FAU) def. Marc Boiron/Loao Pailiello (MT) 8-4

Singles
No. 1 Olivier Sajous (FAU) def. Andreas Siljestrom (MT) 6-1, 6-7, 6-5
No. 2 Marco Born (MT) def. Karol Szmurlo (FAU) 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 Morgan Richard (MT) def. Daniel Vardag (FAU) 1-6, 7-5, 6-3
No. 4 Marc Rocafort (MT) def. Corey Smith (FAU) 6-1, 6-0
No. 5 Joao Pailiello (MT) def. Eddie Majcher (FAU) 6-1, 6-2
No. 6 Lawrence Harradine (FAU) def. Alex McCann (MT) 6-3, 6-3

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Players Mentioned

Lawrence Harradine

Eddie Majcher

Olivier Sajous

Corey Smith

Corey Smith

Karol Szmurlo

Daniel Vardag

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Event: Men's Tennis versus PTT on September 21, 2025 at TBA

Upcoming Event: Men's Tennis versus Bedford Cup on September 26, 2025 at TBA

Upcoming Event: Men's Tennis versus UCF Hedden Dual on October 3, 2025 at TBA

Upcoming Event: Men's Tennis versus Regionals on October 8, 2025 at TBA

Upcoming Event: Men's Tennis versus Portugal M25 ITF on October 20, 2025 at TBA

Upcoming Event: Men's Tennis versus American Athletic Conference on October 24, 2025 at TBA

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