April 13, 2005

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Old Dominion men's tennis team pulled a 5-2 upset over No. 44 North Carolina State on Tuesday afternoon in their 2005 regular season finale. The Monarchs, ranked 75th in the country, now head into the CAA Touranment with a 13-11 overall mark.

The Monarchs took home the doubles point with victories at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles both by a score of 8-3. The Monarchs' top doubles team of senior Izak van der Merwe (Kempton Park, South Africa) and sophomore Nate Grover (Suffolk, Va.) edged out Nick Cavaday and Will Shaw, while Henrique Cancado (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) and Juliano Cirimbelli (Balneário Camboriú, Brazil) downed Mason Schermerhon and William Nobillt at the No. 3 spot.

In singles, Old Dominion took four of the six matches, with three of the four wins coming in straight sets. No. 26 van der Merwe edged out Conor Taylor, 7-5, 6-2 at the top spot, while at No. 2 singles, Cancado defeated Nick Cavady, 6-3, 7-5. The other two Monarch wins came from freshman Eidy Igarashi (São José do Rio Preto, Brazil) at No. 3 singles with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over Will Shaw and classmate Rodrigo Souza (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) with a 7-6, 7-6 victory over William Noblitt.

The Old Dominion men's tennis team will return to action April 21-24 at the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championships.

 No. 75 Old Dominion 5, No. 44 NC State 2
Singles
No. 1  #26 Izak van der Merwe (ODU) def. Conor Taylor * 7-5, 6-3
No. 2  Henrique Cancado (ODU) def. Nick Cavaday * 6-3, 7-5
No. 3  Eigy Iganashi (ODU) def. Will Shaw * 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
No. 4  Andre Iriarte def. Adriano Mello (ODU) * 6-3, 6-2
No. 5  Rodrigo Souza (ODU) def. William Noblitt * 7-6 (), 7-6 ()
No. 6  Josip Rupena def. Juliano Cirimbelli (ODU) * 6-2, 6-1

Doubles
No. 1  van der Merwe/Grover (ODU) def. Cavaday/Shaw -  8-3
No. 2  Banada/Iriarte def. Iganashi/Souza (ODU) * 8-3
No. 3  Cancado/Cirimbelli (ODU) Mason Schermerhorn/Noblitt * 8-3