April 22, 2004

WILLIAMSBURG, VA (April 22, 2004)-No. 8 seed Towson defeated ninth-seed George Mason, 4-1, this afternoon on William and Mary's Adair Tennis Courts in the first round of the Colonial Athletic Association Men's Tennis Tournament. The win improves the Tigers' record to 8-9, while the Patriots end their season at 2-18.

Towson opened the match by winning two of three doubles contests to claim the team point. TU's Ittai Dvir and Doug Ferguson finished first, defeating Brendan O'Connor and Eric Vogel, 8-2, at No. 3. GMU's Tim Bainton and Farshad Garakani followed up with an 8-6 win in the top match over Mike Edison and Navin Khan. The Tigers clinched the point with a win by Todd Nagel and Chris Rowland at No. 2 over Tito Ballester and Oleg Sirghii, 8-4.

The Tigers secured the win with victories in three of the four completed singles matches. TU took a 3-0 lead when Ferguson defeated Garakani at No. 3, 6-0, 6-1 and Dan Selzer won at No. 5 over Vogel, 6-0, 6-0. GMU recorded its first point with a 6-1, 6-1 win by Ballester in the top match over Rowland. The Tigers secured the team victory with a win by Joel Young at No. 6 over O'Connor, 6-3, 6-2.

Towson now advances to the quarterfinal round, where they will face No. 1 seed Virginia Commonwealth, currently ranked 11th in the nation, at 2:00 PM on the Adair Courts.

Towson 4, George Mason 1
CAA Men's Tennis Tournament First Round
Singles
#1 Tito Ballester (GMU) d. Chris Rowland (Towson); 6-1, 6-1
#2 Ittai Dvir (Towson) vs. Tim Bainton (GMU); suspended
#3 Doug Ferguson (Towson) d. Farshad Garakani (GMU); 6-0, 6-1
#4 Todd Nagel (Towson) vs. Oleg Sirghii (GMU); suspended
#5 Dan Selzer (Towson) d. Eric Vogel (GMU); 6-0, 6-0
#6 Joel Young (Towson) d. Brendan O'Connor (GMU); 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 5, 1, 6

Doubles
#1 Bainton/Garakani (GMU) d. Mike Edison/Navin Khan (Towson); 8-6
#2 Nagel/Rowland (Towson) d. Ballester/Sirghii (GMU); 8-4
#3 Dvir/Ferguson (Towson) d. O'Connor/Vogel (GMU); 8-2
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2