Temple University Athletics
Temple Dominates St. Francis (NY) In Home Opener
1.31.09 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 31, 2009
PHILADELPHIA - Temple put forth a dominant effort in its home opener on Friday at the Arthur Ashe Tennis Center, dismantling St. Francis (NY), 7-0. The Owls dropped just one set in singles play and did not drop a single game, winning 6-0, 6-0 at every position from third to sixth singles.
"It was a good team effort today," head coach Steve Mauro said. "The guys have been working hard and we're back on the winning track."
The Cherry and White (2-4) opened things up by decisively winning the doubles point. Senior Eduardo Saavedra and freshman Filip Rams beat Jindrich Chaloupka and Daniel Gonzalez, 8-3, at first doubles while senior Ricardo Velazquez and junior Pavlos Stephanides defeated Danlahdi Robinson and James Brennan Tsang, 8-2, at second doubles. Senior Nathan Spunda and freshman Dmitry Vizhunov did not drop a game in an 8-0 victory over Vihren Todorov and Darrius Marcellin at third doubles.
The singles play was just as impressive. Beginning with Vizhunov at third singles, the Owls did not drop a game, winning 6-0, 6-0. Freshman Mansur Gishkaev at fourth singles, Saavedra at fifth singles and Stephanides at sixth singles all dispatched their opponents easily.
Rams rebounded from dropping the first set to win at first singles, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, while Spunda captured a 6-1, 6-2 victory at second singles.
St. Francis (NY) drops to 2-5 with the loss.
With their four losses coming to teams that currently have a 20-3 record, the Owls will begin a stretch of three straight matches against Atlantic 10 or city rivals. Next up for the team is a visit to George Washington (0-1) on Friday, Feb. 6 at 1 PM.
