April 19, 2003

NKU WINS GLVC CHAMPIONSHIP

Norse defeat Southern Indiana to win title

INDIANAPOLIS - The Northern Kentucky University men’s tennis team won the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships title Saturday with a 5-2 victory over the University of Southern Indiana. Ted Walkup and Billy Hopkins each won at singles for the Norse, who captured their first GLVC Championships title since the 1990 season. Walkup and Hopkins also posted victories in their respective doubles competition as NKU ended Southern Indiana’s four-year reign as GLVC champions. Hopkins teamed with Amine Benjelloun at No. 1 doubles to defeat the Southern Indiana duo of Paulus Halim and Daniel Halim, 8-5. Walkup teamed with Nick Herzog to post a 9-7 win at No. 3 doubles over Ryan Hughes and Chris McCreight, and Walkup later knocked off Daniel Halim, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 at No. 5 singles. NKU improved to 20-5 overall, and the Norse earned a berth to the NCAA Division II Tournament with the victory. The NCAA Division II Tournament will begin May 2. Benjelloun, Hopkins and Herzog each were named All-GLVC by the league’s coaches, and NKU’s Geoff Crawford was voted GLVC Coach of the Year. GLVC CHAMPIONSHIPS 1ST PLACE MATCH NKU 5, USI 2 Doubles Amine Benjelloun/Billy Hopkins (NKU) def. Paulus Halim/Daniel Halim, 8-5 Bhavesh Chadda/Weston Phillips (USI) def. Jon Peters/Chris Robertson, 8-4 Ted Walkup/Nick Herzog (NKU) defeated Ryan Hughes/Chris McCreight, 9-7 Singles Weston Phillips (USI) defeated Chris Robertson, 6-1, 6-3 Billy Hopkins (NKU) defeated Ryan Hughes, 6-2, 6-2 Ted Walkup (NKU) defeated Daniel Halim, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 Jon Peters (NKU) defeated Chris McCreight, 6-2, 6-3