KALAMAZOO -- The No. 62 Western Michigan men's tennis team dismantled a pair of opponents on Saturday with 7-0 victories over Bradley and Valparaiso. The Broncos (8-1, 1-0 MAC) have won five team matches in a row and 40 consecutive individual (singles and doubles) matches since losing the second singles match off against DePaul on Jan. 27.
WMU started the day off with a quick victory over Bradley (0-4). Junior Kevin Hayward and freshman Casey Cullen ran their winning streak to 14 straight with an 8-2 win at No. 3. Seniors Bryan Norville and Alex Birchmeier, the No. 9 team in the Midwest Region, won 8-3 at No. 1 and freshmen Michael Calderone and Kazuya Komada also won 8-3 at No. 2.
The Broncos didn't lose a set in singles with senior Alejandro Staub finishing first with a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 6. Birchmeier won 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2 followed by Hayward, the No. 30 singles player in the region, 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1. Komada won 6-2, 6-0 at No. 5, followed by Calderone 6-3, 6-2 at No. 4 and Norville 6-4, 6-3 at No. 3.
The Crusaders (0-5) didn't last much longer against the Broncos in the night cap to the doubleheader. Birchmeier and Norville won 8-1 at No. 1 and Hayward and Cullen pushed their record to 15-0 this season with an 8-0 win at No. 3. Calderone and Komada had to hang on in a tiebreaker, 8-7 (6), to win at No. 2.
Hayward didn't lose a game against Valparaiso as he added a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 1 singles and Birchmeier won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3. Staub clinched the win with a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 5. The scoring was rounded out by Komada at No. 4 (6-1, 6-0), Cullen at No. 6 (6-2, 6-1) and Norville at No. 2 (6-2, 6-4).
With four wins this weekend, Birchmeier moved into a tie for 13th all-time at WMU with 163 career wins. Norville moved into 25th with 140 wins and Hayward moved into 34th with 116 wins.
After five straight at home, the Broncos go back on the road Wednesday to play No. 64 Michigan State at 6 p.m. in East Lansing, Mich. WMU returns home for the weekend to play No. 66 Iowa at 1 p.m. on Saturday and Cornell at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
#62 Western Michigan 7, Bradley 0
Singles competition
1. #30 Kevin Hayward (WMU) def. Milos Romic (BRAD) 6-2, 6-1
2. Alex Birchmeier (WMU) def. Evgeny Samoylov (BRAD) 6-1, 6-3
3. Bryan Norville (WMU) def. Michel Macara (BRAD) 6-4, 6-3
4. Michael Calderone (WMU) def. Wilder Sampson (BRAD) 6-3, 6-2
5. Kazuya Komada (WMU) def. Vuk Bolic (BRAD) 6-2, 6-0
6. Alejandro Staub (WMU) def. Richard Robertson (BRAD) 6-1, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. #9 Bryan Norville/Alex Birchmeier (WMU) def. Evgeny Samoylov/Milos Romic (BRAD) 8-3
2. Michael Calderone/Kazuya Komada (WMU) def. Vuk Bolic/Wilder Sampson (BRAD) 8-3
3. Casey Cullen/Kevin Hayward (WMU) def. Michel Macara/Richard Robertson (BRAD) 8-2
Match Notes:
Bradley 0-4
Western Michigan 7-1; National ranking #62
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (6,2,1,5,4,3)
Individual rankings are ITA Midwest Region Rankings
#62 Western Michigan 7, Valparaiso 0
Singles competition
1. #30 Kevin Hayward (WMU) def. Mike Shideler (VALPO) 6-0, 6-0
2. Bryan Norville (WMU) def. Alex Lau (VALPO) 6-2, 6-4
3. Alex Birchmeier (WMU) def. Mike Wagner (VALPO) 6-1, 6-1
4. Kazuya Komada (WMU) def. Tom Litscher (VALPO) 6-1, 6-0
5. Alejandro Staub (WMU) def. Dan Brunette (VALPO) 6-1, 6-1
6. Casey Cullen (WMU) def. Kyle Stump (VALPO) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. #9 Alex Birchmeier/Bryan Norville (WMU) def. Mike Shideler/Mike Wagner (VALPO) 8-1
2. Michael Calderone/Kazuya Komada (WMU) def. Alex Lau/Tom Litscher (VALPO) 8-7 (8-6)
3. Kevin Hayward/Casey Cullen (WMU) def. Dan Brunette/Kyle Stump (VALPO) 8-0
Match Notes:
Valparaiso 0-5
Western Michigan 8-1; National ranking #62
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (1,3,5,4,6,2)
Individual rankings are ITA Midwest Region
Exhibitions: Bacalla/Staub (WMU) def. Phidias Fortune/Danny Lewallen (VU) 8-1
Bacalla (WMU) def. Fortune (VU) 8-0
Brad Noel (WMU) def. Lewallen (VU) 8-1
