March 17, 2008

BALTIMORE, MD - The #14 Johns Hopkins men's tennis team won its second straight match by defeating Florida Tech 5-4 on Monday. The Blue Jays are now 2-3 on the season while the Panthers fall to 7-8 overall.

Hopkins opened with wins at first and second singles to take an important 2-1 lead heading into singles play. Senior Joe Vasoontara (Bangkok, Thailand/Loomis Chaffee) and freshman Casey Blythe (Louisville, KY/Saint Xavier) improved to 8-4 on the season with an 8-4 win at first over James McLane and DJ Pate. Sophomore David Maldow (Jericho, NY/Jericho Senior) and freshman Andrew Wang (Sparta, NJ/Sparta) defeated David Fowler and Jonathan Hanna 8-5 at second to improve to 5-3 overall. The Panthers doubles point came with an 8-6 win for Drew Hollis and Joel Zahlan over sophomore Peter Vale (Haverford, PA/Episcopal Academy) and senior Rafael Roberti (Summit, NJ/Summit).

The Blue Jays won second, third and fourth singles to take the match over the Panthers. Wang won his third straight match, beating McLane in straight sets at second singles. Vasoontara also won in straight sets, defeating Zahlan 6-3, 6-2 at third. Blythe's win over Fowler at third clinched the match for Hopkins, as he won 6-3, 7-5. Maldow suffered just his second loss of the season, falling to 12-2 overall at first singles, as he lost in a tiebreaker to Hanna. Pate won in straight sets at fifth over Vale, while Yan Carlos Rodriguez won in three sets over Roberti at sixth singles.

Hopkins returns to action on Tuesday at Flagler in a 2:30 pm match. The Blue Jays lost to the Saints 6-3 last season in Florida.