POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The Marist men's tennis team fell to Mid-American Conference (MAC) foe Buffalo on Saturday afternoon in a match that was close throughout, falling by a score of 4-3. The Bulls are currently ranked 70th nationally, recently defeating Cornell, a team that is ranked 50th in the nation.
"It was an exciting four and a half hour match that could have gone either way against a team ranked 70th in the country,” said head coach Tim Smith. “I could not be more proud of Matteo Giudici for the way he fought and the way Dalen Klassen came back and won in the third set. This coupled with Joseph Dube and Fredrik Bjerke's wins in straight sets at four and five is an indication of the strength we have throughout our lineup.”
The two teams split the singles matches. Senior Lorenzo Rossi (Lugano, Switzerland) fell to Buffalo's Sebastian Ionescu, 6-2, 6-4. Marist senior captain Dalen Klassen (St. Louis, Mo.) defeated Pablo Alvarez, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. The Red Foxes' Will Reznek (Toronto, Canada) was edged by Damien David, 6-4, 6-3.
Junior Joseph Dube (Livonia, Mich.) was another winner for Marist, defeating Sergio Arevalillo 6-4, 6-4. Sophomore Fredrik Bjerke (Oslo, Norway) captured the third Red Fox victory of the afternoon, outlasting Akhil Mehta in an exciting first set, 7-6 before cruising to a 6-1 victory in the second set. Junior Matteo Giudici (Parma, Italy) fell to the Bulls' Jonathan Hannestad in three sets, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.
“As far as doubles,” said Smith, “Rossi has played with the most energy and shot making I have seen in the past four years. With a little fine tuning, Giudici and Fletcher are going to be a very tough duo on number three doubles.”
Buffalo swept the three doubles matches that took place on the afternoon. Classmates Rossi and Reznek fell to David and Mehta in a close match, falling 8-7. Bjerke and Klassen fell to Hannestad and Arevalillo, 8-3. Giudici and Fletcher were defeated by Ionescu and Alvarez, 8-6.
The team will be back in action next Saturday, Mar. 1 when they travel to Lehigh for a 3 p.m. match.
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