A tough draw ended the SIUC men’s tennis team’s hopes of winning at the 1995 Rolex Region V Championship in Wichita, Kan., Oct. 26-30, coach David Paschal said.

All four members representing SIUC faced top-ranked opponents in the first matches of the tournament.

We got a terrible draw, Paschal said.

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Sophomore Brian Etzkin lost to University of Kansas’ Mike Isroff in Thursday’s qualifying round 6-3, 6-1. Paschal said Etzkin fought hard in his match.

He fought hard, but the ball just didn’t go his way, Paschal said.

SIUC’s bad luck continued Friday, when senior Bojan Vuckovic faced Indiana State University’s John James. James was ranked No. 1 for the Sycamores going into the tournament.

Vuckovic said he played his best considering the circumstances.

I played the No. 1 seed, he said. I gave my best, but the guy was 40th in the nation.

Paschal said Vuckovic’s draw prevented him from advancing to later rounds of the competition.

There were many (players) there that he could have beaten.

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Jack Oxler also faced stiff competition in his opening round. Oxler lost in straight sets to J.P. Vissepo, the No. 2 seed from University of Kansas, 6-4, 6-3. Vissepo was ranked among the top junior players in Mexico.

Paschal said Oxler had the opportunity to break Vissepo during the match, but he did not capitalize.

Mick Smyth, a SIUC freshman, played University of Evansville’s top player, Nick Turner.

Smyth said nerves contributed to his disappointing performance.

I was nervous at the start and found it hard to relax, he said. I couldn’t play my normal game. I couldn’t overcome it, it was weird.

Vuckovic and Oxler lost in the first round of doubles play as well.

The duo lost to a University of Evansville pair 6-2, 6-1.

Paschal said he was disappointed in Vuckovic and Oxler because he felt they had the ability to win the match.

We could have and should have probably won that match, he said.

Paschal said the tournament gave him a chance to scan the other schools in the region before spring competition.

I got to see teams from the region, he said. There is a lot more depth on the teams (than expected). It’s a pretty good region.