Weekend College Recap: St. John’s Men Beat Yale for Fourth Straight Win

March 28, 2016 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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The St. John’s men’s tennis team won its fourth straight match over the weekend, downing Yale 4-3 in New Haven, Conn.

The Red Storm would drop the opening doubles flight, but responded by winning the next two doubles flights, led by Lucas Hejhal & Vaidik Munshaw at first doubles, to snag the key doubles point.

The action heated up in singles play, with four of the six flights going the distance. The overall match would come down to sixth singles, as St. John’s freshman Andrei Crapcenco came back from a set down to win 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 and clinch the Red Storm victory.

"Our guys showed a lot of heart fighting off two match points to come back and get the win.  We came up clutch in both doubles and singles in the crucial situations and that was the difference," said St. John's Associate Head Coach Cory Hubbard. "In the pressure moments we were willing to play aggressive because this is our philosophy to take it to the opponent in critical moments. 

To be 16-5 and ranked in the 50s is a great achievement, but we are pushing to achieve more. We have been successful this season, but we haven't played to our full potential yet."

St. John’s will return to action next Tuesday, April 5 against NJIT.

On Friday afternoon at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the St. John’s women remained undefeated in the spring with a 6-1 triumph over Big East foe Villanova.

The Red Storm dominated this contest from the onset, winning all three doubles flights, dropping just four games in those three flights.

The strong outing continued from the singles play, as St. John’s won five of the six singles contests, all five coming in straight sets.

Up next for the Red Storm is a road contest against the University of Albany on Saturday, April 2.

Columbia Men, Women Beat Cornell in Ivy League Opener
The Columbia men’s and women’s tennis teams opened up Ivy League play this past weekend, and both squads notched victories over Cornell.

The men would get things started early by taking the first two doubles flights and securing the doubles point.

The singles play did its part as well, led by Shawn Hadavi & Richard Pham, who both came back from a set down to win their respective singles matches. Mike Vermeer chipped in with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Casares Rosa at fourth singles and that was all Columbia needed as it won 4-1.

Columbia will host Dartmouth and Harvard this coming weekend.

The Columbia women opened up Ivy League play with a victory over Cornell as well, defeating the Big Red 4-3 to move to 10-5 on the season.

The Lions fell behind early, as Cornell won two of the three doubles flights to take the doubles point. But it was the singles play that came up clutch for Columbia, as Kanika Vaidya, Star Makarome and Andrea Kevakian won at first, fourth and fifth singles respectively to give Columbia a 3-2 advantage.

Cornell would win at second singles, but Alexandra Solovyev won 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-4 at third singles to seal the win.

Columbia will head on the road this weekend for two Ivy League matches at Dartmouth and then at Harvard. 


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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