Men’s Tennis Defeats Saint Joseph’s, 4-3

Bronx, N.Y. – Today is Fordham University men's tennis head coach's birthday and the Rams gave him a special present, though they made him wait over three hours for it. In the end, Stephen Mozhaev's three-set win at sixth singles, his first collegiate win, broke a 3-3 tie and led Fordham to a 4-3 victory on the Hawthorn/Rooney Courts.
 
"I'm very proud of the guys," said Slater. "Everyone on the team brought their best today. The match could have gone either way but the team showed a lot of character during singles after dropping the doubles point. The big three-set wins at fifth and sixth made all the difference in the end."
 
Fordham opened the match by dropping the doubles point, losing two of the three doubles matches. After Nicholas Kanazirev/Dhillon Virdee-Oakley fell at first singles to Othman Bezzaz and Ernesto Ruy, 6-3, John Mascone and Giorgio Soemarno evened things with a 6-3 win over John Butler and Eli Gan-Dy at the second spot.
 
It all came down to third doubles where Saint Joseph's Stergios Papadopoulo and Justus Agbo got by Fordham's Stefan Stojanovic and Bingru Chen, 7-5.
 
Virdee-Oakley evened the match at 1-1 with a 6-3, 6-2, win over Bezzaz at third singles and Mascone put the Rams up 2-1 with a 6-1, 6-1 decision over Stergios Papadopoulo.
 
The Hawks then took second singles before Stojanovic put Fordham up 3-2 with a win over Jack Campbell at fifth singles. Stojanovic dropped the first set to Campbell, 6-3, but came back to win the second, 6-0, and the third in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (3).
 
But Saint Joseph's battled back to win at first singles to knot that match at three which meant the match came down to sixth singles. Mozhaev dropped the first set to Gan-Dy, 7-6(1), but came back to win the second, 7-5, and the third, 6-4, to clinch the win for the Rams.
 
Fordham 4, Saint Joseph's 3
Hawthorn/Rooney Courts| Bronx, N.Y.
Saturday, April 20, 2024
 
Singles Competition
1. Justus Agbo (SJUM) def. Nicholas Kanazirev (FORM) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5)
2. Ernesto Ruy (SJUM) def. Giorgio Soemarno (FORM) 6-2, 6-4
3. Dhillon Virdee-Oakley (FORM) def. Othman Bezzaz (SJUM) 6-3, 6-2
4. John Mascone (FORM) def. Stergios Papadopoulo (SJUM) 6-6, 6-1
5. Stefan Stojanovic (FORM) def. Jack Campbell (SJUM) 3-6, 6-0, 7-6 (7-3)
6. Stephen Mozhaev (FORM) def. Eli Gan-Dy (SJUM) 6-7 (1-7), 7-5, 6-4
 
Doubles competition
1. Othman Bezzaz/Ernesto Ruy (SJUM) def. Nicholas Kanazirev/Dhillon Virdee-Oakley (FORM) 6-3
2. John Mascone/Giorgio Soemarno (FORM) def. John Butler/Eli Gan-Dy (SJUM) 6-3
3. Stergios Papadopoulo/Justus Agbo (SJUM) def. Stefan Stojanovic/Bingru Chen (FORM) 7-5
 
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (3,4,2,5,1,6)
 
What's Next?
The Rams will host New York University on Sunday, April 21, at 3:00 p.m. on the Hawthorn/Rooney Courts.