JERSEY CITY, N.J. - The Marist men's tennis team defeated Saint Peter's in its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) spring debut, 6-1. The Red Foxes defeated Siena 6-1 in the fall conference opener. Today's win over the Peacocks moves Marist to 2-0 in MAAC play.
The Red Foxes are on a 26 match MAAC winning streak during regular season play. The last regular season conference match Marist lost was on Wednesday, Apr. 8, 2009 against Fairfield, 5-2. With today's win, Marist improves to a record-setting 114-6 mark in MAAC play under head coach Tim Smith.
“Good way to start out our MAAC spring season winning all six singles matches,” said Smith. “We mixed our doubles a little bit and although we competed well I was disappointed with some of the outcomes. As the score indicated, we had some close sets with Dube and Bjerke at 3 and 4, but Rossi, Klassen, Giudici, and Fletcher all won in straight sets. We look forward to playing another ranked team in St. John's this Thursday.”
Senior Lorenzo Rossi (Lugano, Switzerland) started the sweep in number one singles, defeating Carlos Carrera, 6-2, 6-2. Senior Dalen Klassen (St. Louis, Mo.) downed Marko Knezevic in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3. Junior Joseph Dube (Livonia, Mich.) topped Tom Jottrand, 7-6 (5), 6-0. Sophomore Fredrik Bjerke (Oslo, Norway) continued suit, defeating Fabian Valdivieso, 6-2, 6-4. Junior Matteo Giudici (Parma, Italy) cruised by Luke Whaley, 6-0, 6-1. Freshman Dylan Fletcher (Stow, Mass.) blanked Hugo Lima, 6-0, 6-0.
Saint Peter's claimed two of three doubles matches on the evening to earn its lone point of the night. The Red Fox duo of Rossi and Bjerke were edged by Carrera and Jottrand, 8-7 (2). In second doubles, the pair of Giudici and Fletcher, who won three doubles matches together last weekend at the Yale Invitational, kept their undefeated streak afloat with an 8-1 triumph over Whaley and Knezevic. Sophomores Joe Motta (Staten Island, N.Y.) and Julien Hochner (Nice, France) fell to Valdivieso and Oliver Bellomi, 8-6.
Marist returns to action on Thursday, Mar. 20 at St. John's in Queens, N.Y. The match is set to begin at noon.
Become a fan of Marist Athletics on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
-GoRedFoxes.com-
