BEARCATS FALL IN ELIGHT EIGHT

May 13, 2004

Altamonte Springs, Florida . Southwest Baptist University's dream of winning the national championship ended in the Elight Eight as #2 West Florida claimed a 5-1 win. It is the second year in a row that SBU ended the season in the Elight Eight.

Head coach John Bryant says, "It was a fabulous season for us. We finished the season at 24-5 in the Elight Eight and were the MIAA Champions."

Andras Bori and Mark Eori put SBU up 1-0 when they won the #1 doubles match. They held off a fighting WFU team of Radovan Chrz and German Delmagro, 8-4. WFU then quickly tied the match at one after the #3 doubles. Guillaume de Verbize and Jonas Manly came away with an 8-3 win over Peter Joos and Brian Harrelson.

In a very crucial match, WFU pulled out a 9-7 win in the #2 doubles match to go up 2-1 overall. In that match, SBU had a 6-3 lead when WFU battled back for a 7-6 advantage. SBU's Dante Cipulli and Johan Nortje tied the score at seven but then dropped the next to two points as WFU claimed the victory.

Mario Vergaro added the third point for WFU when he defeated John Paden 6-1, 6-1, at the #6 singles. Radovan Chrz and German Delmargo won the next two points in sinlges for the match win, 5-1.

Chrz took the #3 singles over Andras Bori, 6-4, 6-1 and then Delmargo won the #5 singles 6-1, 6-1 over Peter Joos.

With the loss, SBU ends the season at 24-5 and were ranked #14 in the nation before the NCAA Tournament.

Senior Mark Eori quotes, "I am very glad to finish my collegiate career here in Florida with these guys no matter what the final result was. We still did a great job." Eori finished his career at SBU with 106 career singles victories which is the new SBU record.

"There are some teams that need to graduate and move on. From my coaching standpoint, I would like to keep this team forever," says Bryant on the 2003-04 Bearcats.

The Bearcats lose three seniors in Andras Bori, Mark Eori, and John Paden. Both Bori and Eori were ranked nationally in singles and doubles.

"Andras, Mark, and John will be very successful in whatever they do in life. They are just a great group of kids," says Bryant.

NCAA Division II National Championships

Elight Eight

Altamonte Springs, Florida

Doubles

#1 Andras Bori/Mark Eori (SBU) def. Radovan Chrz/German Delmagro (WFU), 8-4

#2 Paulius Jurkenas/Mario Vergaro (WFU) def. Dante Cipulli/Johan Nortje (SBU), 9-7

#3 Guillaume de Verbize/Jonas Manly (WFU) def. Peter Joos/Brian Harrelson (SBU), 8-3

Singles

#1 D.Cipulli (SBU) vs. P.Jurkenas (WFU), unfinished

#2 M.Eori (SBU) vs. G.de Verbize (WFU), unfinished

#3 R.Chrz (WFU) def. A.Bori (SBU), 6-4, 6-1

#4 J.Nortje (SBU) vs. J.Manly (WFU), 6-2, unfinished

#5 G.Delmagro (WFU) def. P.Joos (SBU), 6-1, 6-1

#6 M.Vergaro (WFU) def. John Paden (SBU), 6-1, 6-1