March 12, 2009

BRYANT MEN’S TENNIS GOES 3-0 IN FLORIDA; DEFEAT SAINT JOSEPH’S 4-3

ORLANDO, FL – The Bryant University men’s tennis team closed out a very successful Spring Break trip to the Sunshine State Thursday as the Bulldogs picked up a hard-fought 4-3 win over Saint Joseph’s Thursday afternoon.  After wins over Creighton and South Dakota and Thursday’s win over the Hawks, the Bulldogs have now won four-straight and improve to 6-5 on the season.

Against Saint Joseph’s, the Bulldogs dropped the opening doubles point as SJU earned wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles.  But in singles play, the Bulldogs came up big with four victories.  Jose Rodriguez defeated Phil Bayliss at No. 2 with Rodriguez pulling out a 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 win.  Nicholai Hill defeated Matt Prusack 6-2, 6-3 at No. 5 and Zehn Laliwala defeated Kevin Aquino. 

Laliwala dropped the opening set but won the second 6-2 and led 4-0 before Aquino retired. 

The big win came at No. 3 as Kevin Gardiner locked into a tough battle with Michael Stauble.  Stauble won the opener 6-2, but Gardiner came right back to win the second 7-5.  In the third, Gardiner clinched the match with a 7-6 victory, evening his record on the season to 5-5 overall – 3-0 at No. 3.

The Bulldogs return to action Tuesday when they visit Brown.

MENS
BRYANT 4 SAINT JOSEPHS 3

Singles
1- Pat Adams (STJ) d. Cristian Balestrieri (BU) 6-3, 1-6, 6-3
2- Jose Rodriguez (BU) d. Phil Bayliss (STJ) 6-1, 1-6, 6-3
3- Kevin Gardiner (BU) d. Michael Stauble (STJ) 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5)
4- Jeff Kessler (STJ) d. Tom Nowak (BU) 6-1, 6-1
5- Nicholai Hill (BU) d. Matt Prusack (STJ) 6-2, 6-3
6- Zehn Laliwala (BU) d. Kevin Aquino (STJ) 6-7 (10), 6-2, 4-0 ret.

Doubles:
1- Bayliss/Stauble (STJ) d. Balestrieri/Hill (BU) 9-7
2- Kessler/Cognetti (STJ) d. Nowak/Gardiner (BU) 8-6
3- Rodriguez/Laliwala (BU) d. Adams/Prusack (STJ) 9-8 (4)