There has been very little middle ground so far in the dual match season for the Marquette men's tennis team.
The Golden Eagles are a combined 26-2 in their four wins — including the team's 7-0 win over Wisconsin-Green Bay Wednesday — and a combined 2-26 in their four losses.
"Sometimes I feel like we're on a roller coaster a little bit, and I'm just hoping that by the end of the year we've gotten better and a little bit more consistent," head coach Steve Rodecap said.
The outcome of the doubles matches was very much in doubt due to the team's slow start.
Junior Ian Kawas and freshman Greg Sirotek lost the No. 3 doubles match, 8-4, to Mark Goldin and Mat Weiss. Freshman doubles team Brett Binkley and Pete Van Lieshout defeated Derek Gonwa and Jarett Cascino, 8-2, in the No. 2 doubles match, leaving the No. 1 singles match to decide the doubles point.
Senior Troy Delmege and junior Eigis Vedrickas broke Tim Prudlow's serve twice to take a 6-2 lead.
Prudlow and teammate Tyler Dorn then stormed back, breaking Delmege and Vedrickas to get back on serve and tie the match, 6-6. The two sides each won two games, sending the match to a tiebreak to decide the stalemate.
Vedrickas opened the tiebreak with an ace and Delmege won it, 7-5, with a volley into Prudlow's feet.
"It was just one of those days where it was difficult to keep our concentration," Vedrickas said about allowing Dorn and Prudlow back into the match. "Me and Troy were both struggling with that."
Rodecap was disappointed with his team's performance in doubles.
"I didn't feel like our effort in doubles was very good at all," he said. "We were fortunate to win that one."
Delmege locked horns with Prudlow again in the No. 2 singles match. Delmege and Prudlow exchanged punishing ground strokes from the first serve to Delmege's authoritative slam to win the match, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
The two exchanged break points early in the second set, but Prudlow took the set by breaking Delmege's serve in the 10th game.
Green Bay's Eric Hines broke Binkley's serve early en route to capturing the first set of the No. 4 singles match, 6-4. Binkley said he used the break between the sets to adjust his strategy.
"I was taking it to him a lot by coming to the net, but he could hit good passing shots, he's better on the defensive," he said. "I just kinda made the adjustment."
Binkley won the second set, 6-0, and the third set, 6-1, to win the match.
Sirotek defeated Goldin, 6-1, 6-3 in the No. 6 singles match while Van Lieshout won the No. 5 singles match, 6-0, 6-3 over Weiss.
Vderickas defeated Dorn, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 in No. 1 singles, while Kawas improved his singles record to 5-3 with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 victory over Cascino in the No. 3 singles match.
This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Feb. 17 2005.