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Air Force defeats Utah, 4-3, at MWC Championships
Pittman clinches win with three-set victory at No. 2 singles
April 24, 2003
The Air Force men's tennis team won its first conference tournament match in five years Thursday by defeating the University of Utah, 4-3, in the first round of the 2003 Mountain West Conference Championships in Provo, Utah. The Falcons, seeded fourth, will face top-seed San Diego State in the semifinals on Friday, April 25 at 9 a.m. Air Force (21-5) last won a conference tournament match in 1998 with a 4-1 victory over Hawaii in the Western Athletic Conference Championships. This is the first win for the Falcons in the four-year history of the Mountain West Conference Tournament. Senior Eric Pittman came from behind to win the deciding match at No. 2 singles in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 over Utah's Roeland Brateanu. Pittman and sophomore Tyler McClung, AFA's all-conference No. 1 doubles team, combined to beat Brateanu and Nick Coutts, 8-4, at the No. 1 spot. Freshman Shannon Buck and senior Tyler West defeated the Utes' No. 3 doubles team of Daniel Lohff and Mike Bullard, 8-6, to clinch the doubles point for Air Force. Buck and sophomore Chris Dong also posted singles victories for Air Force. Buck, who was named MWC Co-Player of the Year on Wednesday, rolled past Lohff at No. 1 singles, 6-1, 6-0. He improves to 24-1 overall and 6-0 against MWC opponents at No. 1 singles. Dong snapped a three-match losing streak to beat Kaisorn Chaichana, 6-2, 6-2, at the No. 6 spot. Utah won the other three singles matches in straight sets.
Air Force 4, Utah 3
SINGLES
DOUBLES
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