Things got ugly in a hurry for St. Bonaventure at the Reis Tennis Center yesterday afternoon, as the men’s tennis team got back on track with a 7-0 win and extended its record to 8-2.
“We played a couple of really tough teams, Georgetown and Maryland, last weekend, and it’s easy to have a let-down after you play teams like them,” said freshman Jon Fife. “Our guys stuck to the game plan and got the job done. I was happy to see us keep our focus and win.”
The Red got off to a strong start by winning 2-of-3 doubles matches to take the doubles point.
At No. 1 doubles, senior tri-captain Dan Brous and junior Rory Heggie took out Alejandro Nery and Jonathan Luce, 8-5. In the final game of the pro-set, Brous and Heggie pressured their opponents’ service game with deft returns to the feet and earned a second break of serve to take the match.[img_assist|nid=22108|title=Just Do It.|desc=Sophomore Kyle Doppelt smokes a shot during his 6-4, 7-5 win over St. Bonaventure’s Andrew Hart yesterday.|link=node|align=left|width=61|height=100]
The pair of sophomore Josh Goldstein and junior Weston Nichols dropped their No. 2 doubles match, 8-5, to Andrew Hart and Dejan Stankovic, as the Bonnies rattled off a string of volley winners to run away with the last four games of the match.
After the Red and the Bonnies were tied with a doubles match apiece, the No. 3 doubles tandem of sophomores Kyle Doppelt and Marc Asch sealed the doubles victory for the Red with an 8-6 win over Diego Valdenegro and Victor Lecina.
Senior tri-captains Nick Brunner and Josh Raff had the day off, but the No. 1 singles spot was in good hands with their classmate and fellow tri-captain Dan Brous, who overcame Nery in three sets, 1-6, 7-5, 6-0. The big-serving senior turned the match around at 5-5 in the second set and never looked back, draining his opponent of energy and confidence in the third set.
Heggie made quick work of Valdenegro at No. 2 singles with a score of 6-2, 6-2, finishing his match before the rest of his teammates. Four of his opponent’s returns sailed long as he held serve at love to take the match.
At No. 3 singles, Fife defeated Leo Mochizuki in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.
“I wasn’t playing that well in the beginning, but I served pretty well, which got me out of trouble,” Fife said. “It’s great that we all won our singles matches and got the win.”
Also serving well yesterday was Doppelt at No. 4 singles. The left-handed sophomore took out Hart with a pair of breaks in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5.
Goldstein sprinted to the finish in his No. 5 singles match against Luce, winning with a pair of 6-2 sets. Senior Kevin Jay rounded out the singles lineup, defeating his opponent in straight sets with a barrage of steady ground strokes and solid baseline play.
“It’s pretty good to get a confidence booster after our matches this weekend,” Heggie said. “It’s especially good for going out to California, where hopefully we’ll get some good wins over some ranked teams.”
“It’ll be nice to play harder competition,” Fife said. “Out there everyone will be pushed in every match, which will make it a fun atmosphere to play in. I thnk we have a really strong team, and California will be a good opportunity for us, since there’s no team that’s really going to overpower us for sure.”