May 26, 2005

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Old Dominion's senior Izak van der Merwe (Kempton Park, South Africa) advanced to the Round of 16 at the NCAA Men's Tennis Singles Championship held at the Mitchell Tennis Center on the campus of Texas A&M, as he defeated Air Force's Shannon Buck in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2. Buck, ranked 67th in the ITA Poll, entered Thursday's second round contest with a 26-2 overall record.

Van der Merwe, ranked 37th nationally and holding a 25-11 overall singles record, moves on to play to Benjamin Becker from Baylor in the Round of 16 on Thursday. Becker, who owns a 31-6 record along with a #18 national ranking, helped the Bears to the title game of the NCAA Men's Tennis Team Championship falling to UCLA in their only dual match loss of the 2005 season. He defeated William & Mary's Jeff Kader in the opening round, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, and secured a Round of 16 berth with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win against Pepperdine's Scott Doerner in Thursday's second round.

Van der Merwe also reached the Round of 16 in his NCAA run last season. In the NCAA Tournament he picked up victories over Adriano Biasella of Southern California in the first round and #35 Robert Searle of Rice in the second round, before falling to #31 Chad Harris of Vanderbilt.

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