St. John’s Men Win Spring Opener
The St. John’s men’s tennis team began its spring season on Wednesday afternoon, defeating Stetson 6-1 in the first of four matches in four days for the Red Storm.
“It was a good start for us but we have a lot of work ahead of us with three more matches in three days,” Assistant Coach Cory Hubbard told RedStormSports.com. “We are really testing our guys early physically and get a chance to see what we are made of.”
St. John’s was led by two-time defending Big East Player of the Year Roberto Livi, who earned a win in both singles doubles. First, he paired with Alan Nunez Aguilera to defeat William Shkrob and Angus Bradhsaw 6-1 in the second doubles flight.
Livi then took on Loic Blanco, an Atlantic Sun First-Team All-Conference member, 7-5, 6-2 in the top singles flight.
The Red Storm would win four of the remaining five singles flights all in straight sets, and Andrei Crapcenco and Ognjen Trejgut won 6-3 at third doubles to round out the 6-1 victory.
“It’s always great to start the season with a win,” added Hubbard. “Today’s match was very competitive and I thought our guys did a solid job of finishing sets and closing out when they had the opportunities.
Stetson is a good team and we were playing in their environment, outside in the sun and heat in Florida.”
Here are the full scores from Wednesday:
Singles:
1. Roberto Livi (SJU) def. Loic Blanco (STET) 7-5, 6-2
2. Graham Ball (STET) def. Daniel Skripnik (SJU) 6-3, 6-2
3. Alan Nunez Aguilera (SJU) def. Angus Bradshaw (STET) 7-6, 6-1
4. Andrei Crapcenco (SJU) def. William Shkrob (STET) 6-4, 7-6
5. Ognjen Trejgut (SJU) def. Coilin MacNamara (STET) 6-4, 7-5
6. Adolfo Blanco (SJU) def. Colter Decoste (STET) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
Doubles:
1. Loic Blanco/Colter Decoste (STET) vs. Daniel Skripnik/Adolfo Blanco (SJU) 5-4, unfinished
2. Alan Nunez Aguilera/Roberto Livi (SJU) def. William Shkrob/Angus Bradshaw (STET) 6-1
3. Andrei Crapcenco/Ognjen Trejgut (SJU) def. Graham Ball/Coilin MacNamara (STET) 6-3
The Red Storm now have three more matches over the next three days, all in Florida, starting with Florida Atlantic on Thursday afternoon, followed by Miami and North Florida.
