Feb. 17, 2012

Box Score

St. Bonaventure, N.Y. - Playing at Atlantic 10 opponent St. Bonaventure for the first time during the regular season in some time, the Fordham men's tennis team took a big step in the Atlantic 10 rankings, posting a 6-1 victory over the Bonnies at the SBU Tennis Courts. The win improves Fordham's record to 8-2 on the season.

"This was a statement win for our program," said head coach Cory Hubbard, following the match. "St. Bonaventure has had some very good teams and is consistently in the top third of the conference, so for us to go on the road and win shows we can compete and be in the mix of the upper tier in the conference. This is just a first step in our goal to finish in the top four and get a bye in the conference tourney."

After some struggles in doubles play against Cornell last week, the Rams began today's match with Bonnies by taking the doubles' point, 2-1. Fordham earned its first doubles win at the #3 slot, as Peder Gram and Max Peara defeated Miguel Suarez and Trevor Haskell, 8-4. Then, Mischa Koran and Kuba Kowalski won at first doubles, 8-6, over Oscar Yanez and Luis Guevara to clinch the doubles point for Fordham.

"I thought the doubles point was very big for us today. They had won the doubles point against Duquesne last week, so we spent a lot of time this week working on doubles. Even though our team shows a lot of fight, I did not want to have to come from behind again. We definitely have improved our doubles, but need to do a better job of holding serve and controlling the middle," said Hubbard.

In singles, Fordham won five of six singles matches, all in straight sets to capture the 6-1 overall victory. Kowalski led the way at first singles with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Yanez, while Srikar Alla topped Guevara, 6-4, 6-3, at second singles.

Koran then defeated Elliot Fanshel, 6-3, 6-2 at third singles, which was followed by a 6-3, 6-2 win by Gram over Haskell at sixth singles. Peara wrapped up the match with a 6-2, 6-4 win at fifth singles over Javier Ortiz.

"Once again our guys played with more energy and were very vocal on the court and made it feel like a home match. That is what I have been preaching since day one when I started here is Fordham will be known as the toughest and most energetic team in the region."

The Rams will be back in action on Saturday, February 25th, when the team travels to East Hartford, Connecticut, for a 3:00 PM match with the University of Hartford.