May 3, 2008

Box Score

EWING, NJ - The Johns Hopkins men's tennis team rallied from 2-1 down to tie the match at 4-4, but lost a heartbreaker 5-4 to TCNJ in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday morning. The Blue Jays end their season at 17-6, playing a record 23 matches this season. Senior Rafael Roberti (Summit, NJ/Summit) won his 100th career match to become just the second player in school history to eclipse the mark.

TCNJ took a 2-1 lead after doubles with wins at first and second. Senior Joe Vasoontara (Bangkok, Thailand/Loomis Chaffee) and freshman Casey Blythe (Louisville, KY/Saint Xavier) fell 8-4 at first. At second, sophomore David Maldow (Jericho, NY/Jericho Senior) and freshman Andrew Wang (Sparta, NJ/Sparta) dropped an 8-3 decision to Jeremy Eckardt and Eric Ferriere. Roberti and senior Matt Naftilan (Nashville, TN/Montgomery Bell Academy) picked up the doubles point for JHU with an 8-6 win at third over Jonathan Yu and Matt Pierson. That was Roberti's 49th career doubles win and 100th total win.

In singles action, Roberti, Wang and sophomore Peter Vale (Haverford, PA/Episcopal Academy) all won their matches to force a 4-4 tie in the match. Roberti won 6-1, 6-4 at sixth over Yu. Vale won at fifth, beating Pierson 7-5, 6-0. Wang became the third player this season to reach 20 wins when he beat Eckardt at third, 6-1, 6-2. Vasoontara lost at second, 6-4, 6-2 while Blythe lost a tight match at fourth 7-6, 7-6. That set up a show-down at first to decide the match. Maldow won the first set 6-4, but Klimchak came back to win the second 6-4. He would go on to win the third 7-5 to win the match for the Lions.

Roberti finishes his career with a singles record of 52-23 (69.3%) and a doubles record of 49-28 (63.6%). He boasts a combined record of 101-51 (.66.4%). He holds the career singles wins record while ranking second in all-time wins and third in doubles wins. Naftilan finishes with a 54-26 (67.5%) doubles record, 28-18 (60.8%) singles record and a combined record of 82-44 (65.1%). He ranks second in doubles wins and third in combined wins. Vasoontara wraps up his career with a singles record of 47-33 (58.7%), a doubles record of 59-24 (71.1%) and a combined mark of 106-57 (65.0%).

The NCAA singles and doubles selections have not been announced yet. Maldow could be a selection in singles, while Vasoontara and Blythe could be selected for doubles.