WEST LONG BRANCH, NEW JERSEY – The Marist men's tennis team lost a tight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference match to rival Monmouth, 4-3, Wednesday afternoon. With the loss the Red Foxes move to 11-7 overall and 4-1 in conference play.
The match was close from the onset as both teams fought for the doubles point. The Red Foxes earned the matches opening point thanks to a 8-2 win from the team of Justin Chanthalangsy (San Marcos, Calif.) and senior captain Matteo Giudici (Parma, Italy) and a win in the tie break, 8-7 (7-5) by freshman Rudolf Kurz (Oberpullendorf, Austria) and sophomore Dylan Fletcher (Stow Mass.)
The Red Foxes looked to carry the momentum into singles play but the Hawks were able to pull out victories in four of the six matches for a come from behind win. For the Red Foxes Kurz and Giudici pulled out singles victories.
“Wonderful college match that went down to the third set,” said head coach Tim Smith. ”It was very exciting and it shows that we can compete at the highest level.”
The loss snaps an amazing streak that saw the Red Foxes go undefeated in MAAC play for close to five straight years. The Red Foxes return to action on the road again and look to start a new streak, this time taking on Niagara at 12 p.m. on Saturday, April 18th.
Full Results
Doubles
1. Pugliese, Victor/Vaghela, Vidit (MU-M) def. Joe Motta/Fredrik Bjerke (MARM) 8-5
2. Justin Chanthalangsy/Matteo Giudici (MARM) def. Bekhiet, Ramy/Gomez Estrada, Ale (MU-M) 8-2
3. Rudolf Kurz/Dylan Fletcher (MARM) def. Filipek, Przemyslaw/Vieira, Christian (MU-M) 8-7
Singles
1. Pugliese, Victor (MU-M) def. Justin Chanthalangsy (MARM) 6-1, 6-2
2. Rudolf Kurz (MARM) def. Filipek, Przemyslaw (MU-M) 6-2, 2-0, 0-99
3. Gomez Estrada, Ale (MU-M) def. Fredrik Bjerke (MARM) 6-2, 7-6
4. Vaghela, Vidit (MU-M) def. Joseph Dube (MARM) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
5. Matteo Giudici (MARM) def. Vieira, Christian (MU-M) 3-6, 6-0, 6-1
6. Kumthonkittikul, Bee (MU-M) def. Jan Dernic (MARM) 6-1, 6-4
