April 24, 2008

FRESNO, Calif. -

Men's WAC Championship Bracket

Fresno State Heads to Las Cruces for Shot at WAC Title
Fresno State has reached the Western Athletic Conference tournament title match the past two seasons, but has come up just short. Fresno State expects to reach the final again this season with an eye towards capturing the vaunted crown and an automatic NCAA tournament birth. The Bulldogs went 3-0 against conference opponents this season, including a 4-2 victory over then-No. 28 Boise State. Lately, Fresno State has been hot, having won six of its last seven matches. The tournament bracket will be available early in the week.

Bulldogs Shut Out Pacific in Regular Season Finale
The Bulldogs closed out the regular season with a 7-0 victory over visiting Pacific, April 20, at the Wathen Tennis Center. The Bulldogs improved to 15-8 and finished the year 13-1 at home. Fresno State used an exciting doubles point victory to vault into singles play. Freshman Denny Fafek and sophomore Taylor Leiby trailed 5-3 at the No. 2 spot before winning five straight games to give Fresno State an early advantage. Pacific's Renan Delsin and Moritz Starke topped junior Rudolf Siwy and sophomore Mirko Zapletal at No. 1 to even the doubles matches. But sophomores Flavio Mollinedo and Tejesvi Veerepalli came through at No. 3 for a 9-7 come-from-behind victory to clinch the doubles point. The `Dogs got off to a good start in singles as Zapletal cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over David Gonzalez for his 19th overall victory of the season. Freshman Siddharth Alapati quickly followed with a straight-set victory over Austin Kakar at the No. 6 spot. Siwy won a team-best 26th overall match at the No. 1 spot, clinching the match with a 6-1, 6-4 defeat of Starke. Veerepalli and Fafek both won in straight sets, while freshman Martin Nilsson completed the match with a victory at the No. 5 spot in a super-tiebreaker.

Home Court Advantage
Fresno State completed the 2008 campaign with a 13-1 record at home. The `Dogs won six matches by way of shut out and pulled a 4-2 upset of Boise State on March 24. The only blemish was a 4-3 loss to TCU on March 21. However, Fresno State proved once again it is a tough team to beat in the Wathen Tennis Center.

Season Rewind: `Dogs Master Weather, Broncos and Huskers
Not even the weather could stop the Bulldogs this year. Veerepalli capped-off an incredible two days with a three-set victory over Boise State's Brent Werbeck, clinching Fresno State's thrilling 4-2 upset of the No. 28 Broncos on March 24. The Bulldogs were scheduled to face Nebraska on March 22, but rain pushed the match to the following day. The Bulldogs then proceeded to sweep the Huskers 6-0 and with the potential of rain again on Sunday, Fresno State and Boise State agreed to begin their match on March 23, a day earlier than scheduled. Unfortunately, rain began to fall as all six singles matches were in second sets. The Bulldogs were up a set in three matches, and the Broncos were up a set in the other three. On March 24, the weather permitted the Bulldogs to make their move. Fresno State had lost to Boise State in the previous four meetings, and Udwadia had never beaten the Broncos during his tenure at Fresno State. But while the wind swirled and dark clouds shadowed the Wathen Tennis Center that day, the Bulldogs shined. Nilsson beat Eric Roberson at the No. 6 spot and Zapletal followed with an impressive straight-set victory over No. 60 Clancy Shields at the No. 2 spot to give Fresno State a 2-1 lead. Boise State tied the match at 2-2 when Luke Shields downed Siwy on court No. 1. Fafek was in a dog fight with Piotr Dilaj on court No. 4. Neither had broken the other's serve, but with the score tied 5-5 in the second set - and Fafek up a set - the freshman from Mountain View, Calif., broke and then served to win 7-6 (5), 7-5. Also of note was that Fafek trailed 5-1 in the tiebreaker of the first set and rallied off six consecutive points to capture the first frame. Veerepalli, who had lost the first set against Werbeck, relished in the opportunity to decide the match and deliver one of the biggest victories for Fresno State in recent years. Veerepalli had trailed 2-6, 1-3 on Saturday but kept fighting to tie the score at 3-3 when rain halted the match. On Sunday, Veerepalli won three straight games in the second set to split, then broke early in the third set to take a 3-2 lead and broke again to take a 5-2 lead before finishing out the match.