March 22, 2003

NEWARK, Del. - George Mason posted victories at the top three singles positions, but could not pull out the victory, falling 4-3 against Delaware in Colonial Athletic Association men's tennis action at the Delaware Field House Courts. The contest was the first CAA match of the season for the Patriots. George Mason drops to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the league.

Mason lost the doubles point, but earned singles wins from junior Tito Ballester (Lima, Peru/Saint Margaret) at No. 1, sophomore Tim Bainton (Chobham Surrey, UK) at No. 2, and freshman Stephan Dufils (Paris, France/Heritage Academy) at #3. Ballester blanked his opponent 6-0, 6-0.

The Patriots continue their weekend road swing as the team visits Hofstra on Sunday at 10 a.m.

DELAWARE	4
GEORGE MASON	3
(3/22/03, at UD Field House Courts, Newark, DE)
Singles
#1 Tito Ballester (GM) d. Jon Tully, 6-0, 6-0
#2 Tim Bainton (GM) d. Sanjay Khindri, 6-3, 6-3
#3 Stephan Dufils (GM) d. Robert Wirth, 6-2, 6-3
#4 Dustin Lewis d. Cem Akalin (GM), 6-1, 6-1
#5 Adam Liebman d. Jorge Ramallo (GM), 6-0, 7-6(7)
#6 Josh Ditman d. Miles Hughes (GM), 6-0, 6-0

Doubles
#1 Tully/Wirth d. Ballester/Dufils (GM), 9-8 (4)
#2 Khindri/Ditman d. Akalin/Bainton (GM), 9-7
#3 Patrick Seitz/Ari Zweig d. Hughes/Ramallo (GM), 8-0