Feb. 9, 2008

QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's men's tennis team opened up the spring season on the road with an impressive 5-2 win over the Yale Bulldogs Friday night at Tennis Central in Woodbridge, Conn.

The Red Storm picked up the doubles point with wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots. The tandem of sophomore Martin Kosut and freshman Gustafo Loza defeated Yale's Jeff Dawson and Josh Lederman, 8-3, while sophomore Derek Wallensteen and freshman Pavel Cerny earned the win at No. 3 by a close score of 8-6.

In singles action, junior Artem Vlasenko won at the No. 1 spot, defeating Michael Caldwell 6-2, 6-4. Kosut and Cerny also won their singles matchups at the No. 4 and No. 5 spots, respectively. Juinor Jordan Talbot closed out the match for St. John's, coming from behind to earn a 4-6, 6-4, 1-0(2) win at the No. 6 spot.

The men's tennis team returns to the court on Saturday, Feb. 16, at 8 p.m. when the Red Storm square off against the Knights of Fairleigh Dickinson at the Bridgeview Raquet Club in Brooklyn.

St. John's 5, Yale 2
Tennis Central, Woodbridge, Conn.

Doubles (St. John's wins doubles point, leads 1-0)
1. Rory Green/Calvin Bennet (Yale) def. Alex Svetlakov / Artem Vlasenko (STJ), 8-3
2. Martin Kosut / Gustafo Loza (STJ) def. Jeff Dawson/Josh Lederman (Yale), 8-3
3. Derek Wallensteen / Pavel Cerny (STJ) def. Michael Caldwell/Jordan Abergel (Yale), 8-6

Singles
1. Artem Vlasenko (STJ) def. Michael Caldwell (Yale), 6-2, 6-4
2. Jeff Dawson (Yale) def. Alex Svetlakov (STJ), 6-1, 6-0
3. Rory Green (Yale) def. Asaf Honig (STJ), 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
4. Martin Kosut (STJ) def. Matthew Schimmel (Yale), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
5. Pavel Cerny (STJ) def. Tom Santoro (Yale), 6-0, 6-2
6. Jordan Talbot (STJ) def. Ryan Berman (Yale), 4-6, 6-4, 1-0(2)