Feb. 29, 2008

QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's men's tennis team completed play in Florida this leap day, but were unsuccessful in trying to defeat two of the top teams in the country. The Red Storm (3-4, 0-1 BIG EAST) dropped its match to BIG EAST foe, USF, on Thursday by the score of 5-2, before falling to Florida Atlantic, 6-1, Friday afternoon.

The usually unstoppable doubles team of juniors Artem Vlasenko and Alex Svetlakov were shut down both days and the Red Storm was unable to earn a win in any of the doubles matches, leaving the team trailing 1-0 in each competition.

St. John's didn't have much luck in the singles competitions, either, as junior transfer Gustavo Loza was the only Red Storm player to post a win against USF with his 6-2, 6-0 victory over the Bulls' Daniel Daudt at the No. 5 spot. St. John's took the No. 6 spot by default and finished with only 2 points, which was not enough to overcome the No. 55 team in the country. With the win, South Florida improved to 5-3.

Against No. 74 FAU, sophomore Martin Kosut defeated Eddie Majcher 6-2, 7-6 (8-6 in the tiebreaker) in the No. 5 spot. Loza and freshman Pavel Cerny both rallied to force third sets in their respective spots, but both fell short in the final and decisive sets. The Owls improved to 8-2 on the season with the victory.

The men's tennis team returns to action on Saturday, March 8, when the will square off against the Binghamton University Bobcats.

No. 55 USF 5, St. John's 2
USF Varsity Tennis Courts - Tampa, Fla.
February 28, 2008

Doubles (USF wins the doubles point, leads the match 1-0)
1. Thomas Estrada/Daniel Daudt (USF) def. Artem Vlasenko/Alex Svetlakov (STJ) , 8-4
2. Lucas Jovita/Diego Toledo (USF) def. Gustavo Loza/Martin Kosut (STJ) , 8-4
3. Adderley/Hamed (USF) def. Pavel Cerny/Derek Wallensteen (STJ) , 8-3
Order of Finish - 3, 2, 1

Singles
1. No. 67 Lucas Jovita (USF) def. Artem Vlasenko (STJ) , 6-2, 6-2
2. Jamal Adderley (USF) def. Alex Svetlakov (STJ) , 6-3, 6-1
3. Diego Toledo (USF) def. Martin Kosut (STJ) , 6-3, 7-5
4. Thomas Estrada (USF) def. Asaf Honig (STJ) , 6-4, 6-1
5. Gustavo Loza (STJ) def. Daniel Daudt (USF), 6-2, 6-0
6. Default - St. John's Point
Order of Finish - 5, 1, 2, 4, 3

No. 74 Florida Atlantic 6, St. John's 1
USF Varsity Tennis Courts - Tampa, Fla.
February 29, 2008

Doubles (FAU wins the doubles point, leads the match 1-0)
1. Marc Abdelnour/Eddie Majcher (FAU) def. Artem Vlasenko/Alex Svetlakov (STJ) , 8-3
2. Olivier Sajous/Daniel Vardag (FAU) def. Gustavo Loza/Martin Kosut (STJ) , 8-3
3. Lawrence Harradine/Corey Smith (FAU) def. Pavel Cerny/Derek Wallensteen (STJ) , 8-7 (7-5)

Singles
1. Olivier Sajous (FAU) def. Artem Vlasenko (STJ) , 7-5, 7-6 (7-5)
2. Marc Abdelnour (FAU) def. Alex Svetlakov (STJ) , 6-3, 6-3
3. Corey Smith (FAU) def. Gustavo Loza (STJ) , 6-4, 1-6, 6-1
4. Daniel Vardag (FAU) def. Pavel Cerny (STJ) , 6-4, 4-6, 7-5
5. Martin Kosut (STJ) def. Eddie Majcher (FAU), 6-2, 7-6 (8-6)
6. Joshua Scholl (FAU) def. Asaf Honig (STJ) , 6-3, 6-2