HAMDEN, Connecticut – The Marist men's tennis team and Quinnipiac battled in a close match Tuesday afternoon as the Bobcats eventually bested the Red Foxes, 4-3, in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action. The loss puts the Red Foxes at 4-4 overall and 2-1 in the MAAC. The win improves Quinnipiac's overall record to 6-8 and a perfect 3-0 in MAAC play.

The doubles point was hotly contested as Quinnipiac and Marist both split from the first and second position. Rudolf Kurz and Gianlucca Massa evened the doubles score at 1-1 from the third position after Jan Dernic and Paulo Siracusa fell at the first. It came down to second doubles where Quinnipiac's Hielke Moore and Axel Stern defeated Javier Restrepo and Christopher Gladden, 6-4, to take the opening point.

"The doubles were competitive but we're not at the level that we need to be to win the doubles point at the moment," said head coach Tim Smith. "We need to have a greater understanding of the positioning of the serve and court positioning so we can beat the good MAAC teams in doubles."

The Bobcats entered singles play with a 1-0 overall match lead and then picked up a quick straight set victory at first singles to extend their lead to 2-0.

Rudolf Kurz answered back with a 6-1, 6-3 straight set victory over Kyle Alper to bring Marist back within one. Gianlucca Massa then picked up a 6-4, 6-4 win over Patrick Cachapero to knot the score.
The Red Foxes jumped ahead in the overall match lead with a 6-2, 6-3 win by Lars Schouten over Austin Yannone at the fifth position before Quinnipiac tied it at 3-3 with a 6-2, 6-3 win at the six spot.

The match came down to the fourth singles position as Quinnipiac's Axel Stern and Christopher Gladden battled back-and-forth. Stern came out on top after winning a tight first set 7-6 and then hitting pivotal shots in the second set to earn a 6-4 victory and clinch the match for Quinnipiac.

"Another really exciting college match that came down the fourth singles position," Smith said. In singles we were very competitive from two through six and the match came down to the four spot in a match that could've went either way. If we can finish out our match play the way we hope and continue to work hard in practice we have the talent to beat Quinnipiac and hopefully we see them again in the tournament."

UP NEXT:
The Red Foxes will head home for their first MAAC home match of the season against Fairfield on Thursday, April 12th.