March 19, 2007

CINCINNATI - Sophomore Ra'ees Ismail and freshman J.T. Torbeck were honored by the Atlantic 10 Conference on Monday as the weekly men's tennis awards winners. Ismail earned his first ever Performer of the Week honor, while Torbeck got the nod as the Rookie of the Week for second time this season.

The duo went undefeated in leading the surging Musketeers to a pair of conference wins over Duquesne and Saint Joseph's this weekend in Pittsburgh. XU, which is off to a 4-1 start in league play, is 7-9 overall and has won three of its last four.

Ismail, a native of Maineville, Ohio and a Kings High School grad, used straight-set wins in No. 3 singles matches over Adam Townsend of Duquesne (6-4, 6-4) and Saint Joseph's Chris Chirico (6-3, 6-2). In doubles, he teamed with Rookie of the Week Torbeck to beat pairings from DU and SJU by counts of 8-1 and 8-4, respectively. The sophomore is now 8-8 and in singles play and 10-6 (5-0 in their last five matches) with Torbeck.

Torbeck, from nearby St. Xavier High School, also went unbeaten for Xavier this weekend, as the freshman posted a pair of No. 4 singles wins and two more in second doubles. He ground out a tough three-set match versus Duquesne's Jeremy McClelland 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 and then rolled in straight sets over Pat Adams of Saint Joseph's 6-2, 7-6 (2). He also won twice in No. 2 doubles with Ismail as the pairing improved their record to 10-6. Torbeck is 8-8 for the year in singles.

The Musketeers are back in action this week with a nonconference match at IPFW on Wednesday. This weekend, XU is at St. Bonaventure on Friday and home versus Temple on Sunday.