DePaul University

Bloomington, Ind. (Feb. 4) - The DePaul men's tennis team lost their 4th and 5th consecutive matches of the young season at the Indiana Winter Invitational this weekend in Bloomington. After coming off a tough loss on Thursday at Wisconsin, the Demons packed their bags again on Friday and played two more matches on Saturday.

In the morning, the Demons battled the University of Kentucky Wildcats. Ranked #40 in the nation, they are one of the traditional powers in the Southeast Conference. The Demons came out fired up, as they threw a big scare into UK before succumbing 4-3. On the first court, junior Jevgenji Cariov continued his stellar play by defeating another ranked opponent, Edo Bawano 6-4, 6-2. Maciek Jozwiak came back from a mediocre first set to prevail in three sets at #2 singles, while Dan Bennett won his second straight match at #5 defeating Karim Benmansour in straight sets. That meant that the match came down to doubles. After they split matches at #1 and #2, the focus fell to the third court where Andy Michael and Maciek Jozwiak were playing the UK combo of Matthew Emery and Rahim Esmail. After jumping out to a 3-0 lead, the match tightened up considerably and was tied up at 6 when the other matches were finished. Despite a valiant effort from the Demon tandem, they succumbed 8-6, which gave the 4-3 victory to the Wildcats.

In the afternoon, the Demons were again faced with the challenge of playing a ranked team, this time the #27 Indiana Hoosiers. Despite clearly being fatigued from the morning, the Demons came out and fought hard before losing 5-2. The Hoosiers came up big in the doubles, winning all 3 matches with relative ease. The singles was a different story however. Jevgenji Cariov again showed why he's the Demons' number one player, as he defeated another ranked player in Indiana's Milan Rakvica. Maciek Jozwiak also pulled off another big comeback, coming back to win in three sets against Ian Arons. Unfortunately, those were the only wins on this day for the Demons.

The Demons have their first home match of the year this Friday against Northern Iowa.

DePaul vs. Kentucky

Singles
No. 1 Jevginij Cariov (DU) def. Edo Bawono (UK) 6-4, 6-2
No. 2 Maciek Jozwiak (DU) def. Gustav Pousette (UK) 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5)
No. 3 Johan Grunditz (UK) def. Robert Kurek (DU) 2-6, 6-2, 7-5
No. 4 Matt Emery (UK) def. Andy Michael (DU) 6-4, 6-1
No. 5 Dan Bennett (DU) def. Karim Benmansour (UK) 7-5, 7-6 (5)
No. 6 Rahim Esmail (UK) def. Neil Johnston (DU) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles
No. 1 Kurek/Cariov (DU) def. Benmansour/Grunditz (UK) 8-4
No. 2 Bawono/Stephens (UK) def. Bennett/Jeram (DU) 8-5
No. 3 Emery/Esmail (UK) def. Jozwiak/Michael (DU) 8-6

DePaul vs. Indiana

Singles
No. 1 Jevgenij Cariov (DU) def. Milan Rakvica (IU) 7-5, 7-6(4)
No. 2 Maciek Jozwiak (DU) def. Ian Arons (IU) 1-6, 6-0, 7-5
No. 3 Paul Jacobson (IU) def. Robert Kurek (DU) 6-1, 6-1
No. 4 Rahman Smiley (IU) def. Dan Bennett (DU) 7-5, 6-3
No. 5 Zach Held (IU) def. Andy Michael (DU) 6-3, 6-4
No. 6 Bernard Tsepelman (IU) def. Neil Johnston (DU) 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4

Doubles
No. 1 Rahman Smiley/Ricardo Jordan (IU) def. Jevgenij Cariov/Robert Kurek (DU) 8-4
No. 2 Ian Arons/Milan Rakvica (IU) def. Dan Bennett/Sanjay Jeram (DU) 8-1
No. 3 Zach Held/Paul Jacobson (IU) def. Maciek Jozwiak/Andy Michael (DU) 8-4