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Van Der Merwe Reaches NCAA Second Round With Upset Victory Over Tournament's Second Seed
May 25, 2005 COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Old Dominion's Izak van der Merwe (Kempton Park, South Africa) pulled off the upset in his first round match at the 2005 NCAA Men's Tennis Singles Championship as the senior Monarch defeated the tournament's second seed, Sam Warburg of Stanford, in a come from behind victory, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, at the Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas on the campus of Texas A&M. Warburg was ranked #1 in the ITA Poll entering tournament play with 37-5 overall singles record and had reached the finals of the Icy Hot/ITA All-American championship and the semifinals of the ITA National Indoor Championship. Van der Merwe's overall singles mark improved to 24-11 with the win as he prepares to take on Air Force's Shannon Buck in the second round. Buck, ranked 67th in the ITA Poll, defeated Josh Cohen of Miami in his first round match-up, 6-0, 2-6, 6-4. Van der Merwe, a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Player of the Year for the last two seasons, is ranked #37 in the nation by the ITA. He reached the semifinals of ITA National Indoors and made the quarterfinals of the ITA All-American Main Draw. His win over Warburg marks his sixth victory over a ranked opponent this spring. Click here to hear audio of available press conferences:
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