NEW WINDSOR, N.Y. – The Marist men's tennis team hung tough in a thrilling back and forth match but eventually were defeated by BigEast foe Georgetown, 4-3, Saturday afternoon at the Sportsplex tennis facility.
Numerous matches throughout went to tiebreak points including the final and deciding match of the day as the Red Foxes continue to tune up for Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play by facing some solid competition.
The day started with three close matches in doubles, with two out of the three going to tie breaks. Juniors Fredrik Bjerke (Oslo, Norway) and Joe Motta (Staten Island, N.Y.) faced off against the Hoyas team of sophomore Jordan Portner and senior Alex Tropiano, falling 7-6 (8-6).
The Red Foxes responded with the team of freshman Justin Chanthalangsy (San Marcos, Calif) and senior captain Matteo Giudici (Parma, Italy), who picked up a win against Georgetown's senior John Brosens and freshman Marco Lam, 7-5.
In the deciding doubles match the Georgetown pairing of RS senior Andrew Dottino and junior Daniel Khanin defeated freshman Rudolf Kurz (Oberpullendorf, Austria) and senior Joseph Dube (Livonia, Mich.), 7-6(5), to win the overall doubles point and take a 1-0 lead.
In singles, both Giudici and Chanthalangsy led off with wins to take a 2-1 lead over the Hoyas, Bjerke and Kurz split their next two matches and the overall match score went to a 3-2 Red Foxes lead. The Hoyas Lam defeated Dube, 6-3/5-7/6-4 to knot the overall match score at 3-3.
In the showdown's deciding match the Red Foxes freshman Timo Tanzer (Auvernier, Switzerland) faced off against the Hoyas freshman Peter Beatty. Beatty pulled out the victory for Georgetown after three sets and two tie breakers, 6-3/7-6 (7)/7-5.
"This is one of the best college matches I've ever been involved in,” head coach Tim Smith said. “Its matches like this that want to keep me in coaching. Everyone battled, all 10 guys and we came up short against a BigEast foe. Special kudos to Justin Chanthalangsy and Mateo Giudici for their doubles win."
Non-conference play continues for the Red Foxes as they head out on the road to take on Army and St. Bonaventure in consecutive days, Feb. 20 and Feb. 21, both at West Point, N.Y.
Full Results
Doubles:
#1 Bjerke/Motta vs. Portner/Tropiano lost 7-6(8-6)
#2 Chanthalangsy/Guidici vs. Brosens/Lam WON 7-5
#3 Kurz/Dube vs. Dottino/Khanin lost 7-6(5)
#4 Fletcher/Hochner vs. Murphy/Beatty WON 7-5
#5 Tanzer/Dernic vs. Korber/Rechan lost 6-4
Singles:
#1 Bjerke vs. Khanin lost 7-6(2)/3-6
#2 Kurz vs Korber WON 6-3/6-2
#3 Dube vs. Lam lost 6-3/5-7/6-4
#4 Tanzer vs. Beatty lost 6-3/7-6(7)/7-5
#5 Chanthalangsy vs. Murphy WON 6-4/6-4
#6 Guidici vs. Rechan WON 6-4/6-2
