April 7, 2006

Monroeville, PA - The University of Dayton men's tennis squad will meet Richmond in the semi-finals of the Atlantic 10 Conference Championships tommorow in a re-match of last year's title game. Although last year's Flyers lost 4-2, it was apparent that both teams belonged in the final game. This year, both UD and Richmond have made history just by advancing this far.

Richmond, a sixth seed, is the first six to advance this far since 1999. No number seven seed had ever made it to the semis. That is, until the University of Dayton men's tennis squad upset #2 Xavier today in the second round of the tourney. With the 4-3 win, the Flyers move to 12-11 on the season and advance to the semi-finals for the second straight season (last year UD faced XU in the semis and beat them by the same score).

It was a nail-biter, but the Flyers managed to cling to three singles points for the win after taking the Musketeers on the doubles front.

Tom Murphy (15-5) and James O'Connell (14-4) did their jobs at first and second singles, respectively, each netting fairly easy wins. Playing at sixth singles, however, freshman David Peyton (7-16) was the one that sent Xavier packing. Peyton had, perhaps, the most important victory of his young career with a 7-6 (2), 1-6, 7-5 win over Mike Dieciuc.

Dayton will have little time to celebrate, however, because it's back to the courts tomorrow afternoon. The match between UD and the Richmond Spiders will be tomorrow, with a 2:00 PM first serve scheduled.