Feb. 17, 2008

QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's men's tennis team picked up a win in two different boroughs on Saturday as the Red Storm defeated Duquesne, 4-2, at the Alley Pond Tennis Center in Queens during the afternoon, and closed out the night with a 6-1 win over Fairleigh Dickinson in Brooklyn at the Bridgeview Racquet Club. With the two wins, the St. John's improved its record to 3-0 on the season, while the Dukes fell to 5-3 and FDU fell to 3-4.

St. John's won the doubles points in both matches to take early 1-0 leads. The teams of juniors Artem Vlasenko and Alex Svetlakov, and sophomore Derek Wallensteen and freshman Pavel Cerny, were unstoppable as they were able to handle both teams they faced.

Against Duquesne, the Red Storm earned three more points in the singles competition as Vlasenko and Cerny won at No. 1 and No. 5, respectively, and junior transfer Gustavo Loza picked up his first singles win with St. John's as he defeated the Dukes' Mark Maciuch, 6-4, 6-2, in the No. 4 spot. It was Cerny's win that clinched the match for St. John's as the team left Queens with a 4-2 victory.

The singles matches in the top three spots against Fairleigh Dickinson were long and tough. The No. 4, 5, and 6 spots were won by St. John's as Loza, Cerny and junior Jordan Talbot each defeated their opponents to clinch the match for the Red Storm. At this point, each of the top three spots were tied at a set apiece and a tiebreaker was played to determine the winners.

Vlasenko won his tiebreaker at the No. 1 spot by defeating Phil Stephens 10-6, after splitting the first two sets 7-6, 4-6. At No. 3, freshman Asaf Honig was beaten by Josh Girling, 6-7(7-3), 6-4 and 10-7 in the tiebreaker. Svetlakov's match against Matt Gordon at No. 2 was the closest one of the night. After winning the first set 7-6, Svetlakov dropped the second by a disappointing score of 2-6. Even the tiebreaker was extended, as both players reached nine points. Svetlakov outlasted Gordon, winning the tiebreaker 14-12 and picked up the Red Storm's sixth point of the night. St. John's defeated the Knights 6-1 to complete the day's sweep.

The Red Storm men's tennis team returns to action on Friday, Feb. 22, when the team takes on Columbia at 1 p.m. at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center in Manhattan.

Results
St. John's 4, Duquesne 2
Alley Pond Tennis Center
Feb. 16, 2008

Doubles (St. John's wins the doubles point, leads the match 1-0)
1. Artem Vlasenko / Alex Svetlakov (STJ) def. Mikhael Rasner/Michael Ortega (Duquesne), 8-5*
2. Alex Mast/Mark Maciuch (Duquesne) def. Asaf Honig / Gustavo Loza (STJ), 8-4
3. Derek Wallensteen / Pavel Cerny (STJ) def. Jeremy McClelland/Steven Herchko (Duquesne), 8-5

Singles
1. Artem Vlasenko (STJ) def. Alex Mast (Duquesne), 6-1, 6-3
2. Michael Ortega (Duquesne) def. Alex Svetlakov (STJ), 6-4, 6-4
3. Jeremy McClelland (Duquesne) def. Asaf Honig (STJ), 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
4. Gustavo Loza (STJ) def. Mark Maciuch (Duquesne), 6-4, 6-2
5. Pavel Cerny (STJ) def. Mikhael Rasner (Duquesne), 6-2, 6-2*
6. Jordan Talbot (STJ) vs. Gustavo Villares, DNF

St. John's 6, Fairleigh Dickinson 1
Bridgeview Racquet Club
Feb. 16, 2008

Doubles (St. John's wins the doubles point, leads the match 1-0)
1. Artem Vlasenko / Alex Svetlakov (STJ) def. Phil Stephens/Matt Gordon(FDU), 8-4*
2. Josh Girling/Justin Seow (FDU) def. Asaf Honig / Gustavo Loza (STJ), 9-7
3. Derek Wallensteen / Pavel Cerny (STJ) def. Priit Gross/Kyle Eddins (FDU), 8-6

Singles
1. Artem Vlasenko (STJ) def. Phil Stephens (FDU), 7-6, 4-6, (10-6)
2. Alex Svetlakov (STJ) def. Matt Gordon (FDU), 7-6, 2-6, (14-12)
3. Josh Girling (FDU) vs. Asaf Honig (STJ), 6-7, 6-4, (10-7)
4. Gustavo Loza (STJ) def. Kyle Eddins (FDU), 6-2, 6-2
5. Pavel Cerny (STJ) def. Justin Seow (FDU), 6-3, 6-1
6. Jordan Talbot (STJ) vs. Keiichiro Adoeki (FDU), 6-3, 6-0*

* denotes clincher