The Webster University men's tennis team finished third in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament, on April 22 at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center in Forest Park. The Gorloks finshed the day with an exciting finish in a 5-4 win over third-seeded Westminster College.
In the its final match of the day, Webster fell behind 2-1 after doubles play to Westminster. Juan Granizo (JR, Quito, Ecuador/Colegio Alberto Einstein) won in straight sets at #1 singles and Trent Purnell (SR, Marion, IL/Marion HS) won in straight sets at #4 as the match was tied at 3-3 with the final three singles being played.
Ian Powers (FR, Farmington, MO/Farmington HS) lost a tough one at #2 singles, 6-7 (7-9), 5-7. Powers battled cramping throughout the match, almost forcing a third set. But Charles McGee (FR, Waterloo, IL/Waterloo HS) won a hard-fought match at #6 after losing the first set, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 6-2, to even the contest up at 4-4. That left the outcome of the #5 singles as the deciding factor.
Webster's Matt Lang (SR, St. Louis, MO/Lindbergh HS) won the first set, 6-4, but lost the second, 1-6. Lang fell behind, 3-0, in the third set but stormed back to win the third, 7-5, and clinch the upset for the Gorloks.
The Gorloks opened the tournament with a first round win over Fontbonne University, 5-0. In the victory over Fontbonne, the Gorloks swept all three doubles matches and after Purnell and McGee won their singles matches, at #4 and #6, the contest was called with Webster having the necessary five wins. Webster advanced to a semi-final match with #1 seed Greenville College.
The Gorloks started out well against Greenville, battling in doubles play and were a couple games away from clinching two of them before the Panthers came from behind to take all three. Once Greenville won the #2 and #5 singles, the match was called.
Granizo and McGee were both named Honorable Mention for the SLIAC All-Conference Team. Ricardo Acosta (SO, Maturin, Venezuela/Univ. of Missour-St. Louis) was named to the SLIAC Men's Tennis All-Sportsmanship Team.
Granizo finishes his career with 21 wins in just two seasons, making him tenth on Webster's all time list. Purnell finished with 17 singles wins in his two seasons. McGee finished the season 12-2 in singles, and Granizo was 11-2 and Purnell wound up 10-4.
Webster finished the season 10-5 overall, just the fifth time in 31 seasons of play it reached double figures in wins. Full results for the three matches:
Webster University 5 Fontbonne University 0
Singles Competition
1.Blake Wisniewski (FUMT) vs. Juan Granizo (WUMT) no result
2. Khoa Trieu (FUMT) vs. Ian Powers (WUMT) no result
3. Josh Eads (FUMT) vs. Carlos Gonzalez (WUMT) no result
4.Trent Purnell (WUMT) def. Stephen Lendy (FUMT) 6-1, 6-0
5. Jacob Lendy (FUMT) vs. Matt Lang (WUMT) no result
6. Charles McGee (WUMT) def. Brian Nguyen (FUMT) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles Competition
1. Juan Granizo/Ian Powers (WUMT) def. Khoa Trieu/Josh Eads (FUMT) 8-2
2. Carlos Gonzalez/Trent Purnell (WUMT) def. Blake Wisniewski/Stephen Lendy (FUMT) 8-2
3. Zach Selby/Charles McGee (WUMT) def. Jacob Lendy/Brian Nguyen (FUMT) 8-2
Greenville College 5 Webster University 0
Singles Competition
1. Nate Wieland (GCMT) vs. Juan Granizo (WUMT) no result
2. Jonathan Urshan (GCMT) vs. Ian Powers (WUMT) no result
3. Code Power (GCMT) def. Carlos Gonzalez (WUMT), 6-1, 6-0
4. Blake Gocey (GCMT) vs. Trent Purnell (WUMT) no result
5. Justin Tilford (GCMT) def. Matt Lang (WUMT) 6-0, 6-1
6. Mason Tennell (GCMT) vs. Charles McGee (WUMT) no result
Double Competition
1. Nate Wieland/Justin Tilford (GCMT) def. Juan Granizo/Ian Powers (WUMT) 8-6
2. Jonathan Urshan/Code Power (GCMT) def. Trent Purnell/Matt Lang (WUMT) 8-4
3. Blake Gocey/Chris Heckman (GCMT) def. Charles McGee/Zach Selby (WUMT) 9-7
Webster University 5 Westminster College 4 (3rd Place)
Singles Competition
1.Juan Granizo (WUMT) def. Adam Fuchs (WCMT) 6-4, 6-3
2. Kyle Collins (WCMT) def. Ian Powers (WUMT) 7-6, 7-5
3. Pete Hassenmueller (WCMT) def. Carlos Gonzalez (WUMT) 6-2, 6-2
4. Trent Purnell (WUMT) def. Reese Hicks (WCMT) 6-4, 6-2
5.Matt Lang (WUMT) def. Grant Peterson (WCMT) 6-4, 1-6, 7-5
6.Charles McGee (WUMT) def. Brendan Bosewell (WCMT) 6-7, 6-4, 6-2
Doubles Competition
1. Juan Granizo/Ian Powers (WUMT) def. Adam Fuchs/Kyle Collins (WCMT) 8-4
2. Pete Hassenmueller/Reese Hicks (WCMT) def. Trent Purnell/Matt Lang (WUMT) 8-2
3. Grant Peterson/Brendan Bosewell (WCMT) def. Charles McGee/Zach Selby (WUMT) 8-5
