March 28, 2008

Box Score

FREDERICKSBURG, VA - The #15 Johns Hopkins men's tennis team dropped a heartbreaker 5-4 at #10 Mary Washington Friday afternoon in a marathon match that lasted nearly five hours. The Blue Jays slip to 4-4 on the season while the Eagles improve to 10-4 overall.

Mary Washington took a 2-1 lead after wins at first and third doubles with Hopkins winning at second. Randy Loden and Kaz Murata won a close 8-6 match at first over freshman Casey Blythe (Louisville, KY/Saint Xavier) and senior Joe Vasoontara (Bangkok, Thailand/Loomis Chaffee). After falling behind 6-3, Loden and Murata won five straight to win the match. At second, sophomore David Maldow (Jericho, NY/Jericho Senior) and freshman Andrew Wang (Sparta, NJ/Sparta) beat Zach Detweiler and Evan Goff 8-2. And at third, Jason Dunn and John James defeated sophomore Dan Myers (Chattanooga, TN/Collegiate School) and senior Rafael Roberti (Summit, NJ/Summit) 8-4.

Loden defeated Wang 6-1, 6-2 at second, while Dunn beat Vasoontara 6-4, 6-3 at third to push Mary Washington's lead to 4-1. Hopkins responded though with wins for Maldow and sophomore Peter Vale (Haverford, PA/Episcopal Academy). Maldow won at first, beating James 7-5, 6-1 to improve to 14-2 on the season. While Vale beat Goff 6-4, 6-2 at fifth. Eddie Carver clinched the match for Mary Washington at fourth, beating Blythe. Carver won the first set 6-4 but Blythe came back to win the second set 7-5. Blythe was then up 5-2 in the third, but Carver came back to force a tiebreaker and eventually win the third 7-6 (7-5). Roberti made it a 5-4 final by beating Rob Emig in three sets at sixth. Emig won the first set 6-4, but Roberti responded with 6-4 in the second and 7-6 (7-3) in the third.

Hopkins returns to the court on Saturday, March 29 when Muhlenberg visits Baltimore for a Centennial Conference match-up. The match is slated to start at 11:00 am.