First Round Victory and National Sportsmanship Award Cap Off Banner Day for Swinnen
COLLEGE STATION, Texas ? Senior Sven Swinnen advanced to the second round of the 2005 NCAA Men’s Tennis Individual Championships Wednesday, defeating Oklahoma State’s Tomas Bohunicky, 6-0, 7-6 (3). Swinnen (27-8 overall) will play Florida State’s No. 26-ranked Mat Cloer in second round action tomorrow at noon. Also on Wednesday, Swinnen was named the 2005 ITA/Rafael Osuna National Sportsmanship award winner.
No. 9-ranked Swinnen easily won the first set, 6-0, but fell behind to Bohunicky, 5-2, in the second. The native of Swizterland quickly regained his composure, rallying back to force a tiebreak set, which he won, 7-3. Swinnen’s next opponent, Mat Cloer, is a two-time Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year honoree and currently stands 16-10 overall. Swinnen defeated Cloer earlier this season (1/15), 7-5, 6-7, 6-4, in Honolulu when the Ducks took on Florida State.
It was also announced Wednesday that Swinnen was the recipient of the 2005 ITA/Rafael Osuna National Sportsmanship Award. The award goes to the player who displays sportsmanship, character, excellent academics and has had outstanding tennis playing accomplishments. Throughout his career, Swinnen has displayed all of those qualifications, having earned the team’s sportsmanship and scholar athlete award twice, while being named MVP on three occasions. Swinnen, a Pre-Business Administration major, currently carries a 3.31 GPA.
Live scoring for the tournament and current brackets can be found at http://sports.tamu.edu/specialsites/ncaatennis2005/live.php.
NCAA Championships
First Round
College Station, Texas
May 25
(#) National Ranking
(9) Sven Swinnen (UO) def. (90) Tomas Bohunicky (OSU) 6-0, 7-6 (3)
