March 30, 2008

QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's men's tennis team picked up two big wins over Stony Brook and Connecticut this weekend. The Red Storm swept the Seawolves, 7-0, before topping its first BIG EAST opponent of the year, the Huskies of UConn, 6-1. With the wins, St. John's improves to 7-8 (1-2 BIG EAST), while Stony Brook falls to 4-5 and Connecticut drops to 4-6 (0-3 BIG EAST).

The Red Storm won at every spot on Friday, as each team in doubles picked up solid wins to earn the doubles point and take the early lead. The lineup of juniors Artem Vlasenko, Alex Svetlakov and Gustavo Loza won at Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in singles. Sophomore Martin Kosut and freshmen Pavel Cerny and Asaf Honig rounded out the wins for St. John's at Nos. 4, 5 and 6, respectively, en route to the 7-0 victory.

On Saturday, the Red Storm took on its first opponent of the season at the Courts at St. John's in BIG EAST rival Connecticut. Again, the doubles teams at Nos. 1, 2 and 3 - Loza/Vlasenko, Svetlakov/Kosut and Cerny/sophomore Derek Wallensteen - picked up the wins at doubles to earn the 1-0 match advantage.

Svetlakov won his first match of the season at the No. 1 spot by defeating UConn's Joe Goldstein, 6-2, 6-4. Loza, Cerny and Honig followed with wins of their own in Nos. 2, 3 and 4, respectively. Junior Jordan Talbot won his matchup with the Huskies' Tom Cook at No. 6 in three sets - 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, giving St. John's the 6-1 win.

The Red Storm's scheduled matches against Monmoth, Marist and Rhode Island have been postponed indefinitely.

St. John's returns to the courts Thursday, April 3, when the team takes on the Highlanders of Radford University in Radford, Va. First serve is scheduled for 3 p.m.

St. John's 7, Stony Brook 0
Alley Pond Tennis Center
March 28, 2008

Doubles
1. Artem Vlasenko / Gustavo Loza (STJ) def. Youssef Fassi-Fehri/Artem Baradach (SB), 8-0
2. Alex Svetlakov / Martin Kosut (STJ) def. Alex Markovich/Artem Baradach (SB), 8-6
3. Derek Wallensteen / Pavel Cerny (STJ) def. John Epstein/Ivan Rummel (SB), 8-6

Singles
1. Artem Vlasenko (STJ) def. Artem Baradach (SB), 6-4, 5-7, 6-2
2. Alex Svetlakov (STJ) def. Youssef Fassi-Fehri (SB), 6-0, 6-2
3. Gustavo Loza (STJ) def. Ivan Rummel (SB), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
4. Martin Kosut (STJ) def. Ilan Shvartz (SB), 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
5. Pavel Cerny (STJ) def. John Epstein (SB), 6-4, 3-6, 10-8
6. Asaf Honig (STJ) def. Alex Markovich (SB), 6-3, 6-0

St. John's 6, UConn 1
The Courts at St. John's
March 29, 2008

Doubles
1. Gustavo Loza / Artem Vlasenko (STJ) def. Joe Goldstein/Ben Schueler (UC), 8-1
2. Alex Svetlakov / Martin Kosut (STJ) def. Joey Michaels/Christian Malerba (UC), 8-5
3. Pavel Cerny / Derek Wallensteen (STJ) def. Tom Cook/Andrew Marcus (UC), 8-2

1. Alex Svetlakov (STJ) def. Joe Goldstein (UC), 6-2, 6-4
2. Gustavo Loza (STJ) def. Ben Schueler (UC), 6-2, 6-1
3. Pavel Cerny (STJ) def. Joey Michaels (UC), 7-6, 6-1
4. Asaf Honig (STJ) def. Andrew Marcus (UC), 6-3, 6-0
5. Christian Malerba (UC) def. Derek Wallensteen (STJ), 7-5, 2-6, 7-5
6. Jordan Talbot (STJ) def. Tom Cook (UC), 6-4, 5-7, 7-5