March 17, 2012
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Bronx, N.Y. -
The Fordham University men's tennis team was unable to attend the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Manhattan today but the Rams had their own party on the Hawthorn/Rooney Courts, blanking La Salle, 7-0, to remain perfect at home this year.
With the win, the Rams advance to 12-3 on the season, 5-0- at home.
The match started with the Rams taking the doubles point, winning all three doubles matches. Kuba Kowalski and Mischa Koran got things started for the Rams, defeating La Salle's Chas Berenato and De'Sean Fennell at first doubles, 8-1. Peder Gram and Max Peara followed that Fordham win with one of their own, upending Dale Fetterman and Hunter Selman at third doubles by the same 8-1 score. Srikar Alla and J.J. Tauil made it 3-for-3 for the Rams, taking second doubles from Joe LaBate and Trevor Donovan, 8-4.
The Rams then swept the singles competition, winning five of the six matches in straight sets. Tauil was the first Ram to win a singles match, taking fifth singles from Fetterman, 6-2, 6-3, while Kowalski followed that win with a 6-0, 6-1, victory over Berenato at first singles. Peder Gram then took care of Robert Kasinow at the sixth position, 6-3, 6-1, to clinch the win for the Rams.
At third singles, Koran defeated Joe LaBate, 6-4, 6-1, while Peara was victorious at fourth singles, 6-3, 6-2, over Donovan.
"Our guys came out and got a great start in doubles and jumped out to big leads, which was a key we talked about before the match," said Fordham head coach Cory Hubbard. "We wanted to make a statement early and not let them into the match. In singles, JJ and Kuba handled their courts quickly and allowed the other guys to relax a little since we were up 3-0. Once the guys relaxed, they played much better in second sets and won easily."
The only match to go to a tiebreaker was second singles where Alla took the first set from Fennell, 6-2 but dropped the second, 6-4. In the tiebreaker, Alla fell behind early but came back for a 10-6 win to take the match.
The Rams will next be in action Sunday, March 18th, as they host Sacred Heart University on the Hawthorn/Rooney Courts at 2:00 PM.
"It was another win against a conference team, so it sets up some big matches ahead," said Hubbard. "I'm very pleased we got the match over in less than three hours, so we can be ready for a tough test tomorrow with Sacred Heart. They made the NCAA tournament last year, and it will be a chance for us to move up in the regional rankings."
