TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON, NJ – At Washington Township Tennis Club, the St. Thomas Aquinas College men’s tennis team downed Chestnut Hill College in a heavyweight matchup of regionally-ranked opponents by a 6-1 margin.  The fifth-ranked Spartans took the doubles point over the fourth-ranked Griffins with a 6-4 clincher at the top flight. 

            In singles action, Marcel Volz ’22 (Iffezheim, Germany) made it a 3-0 lead for the hosts with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over the seventeenth-ranked singles player at the second flight in his first action of the spring slate.  A retirement at third singles cut the Spartans’ lead to 3-1, but Alvaro Barranco ’21 (Lleida, Spain) and Valentin Baranyi ’21 (Baden Baden, Germany) both won gritty first sets with identical 7-5 scores.  The pair would continue their strong play by taking straight set victories at fourth and fifth singles.

            The showcase matchup of the day featured a hotly contested third set tie break finish at first singles.  Odysseas Papaioannou ’22 (Thessaloniki, Greece), the fourth-ranked singles player in the East region, dropped his first set to the fourteenth-ranked player before going on the offensive and forcing a third set.  Tied a six-all in the third set, the diminutive Greek nearly squandered a rare double-fault by his opponent, but regained his footing to take the tiebreak, and the match, with a 12-10 finale.

            Next up for the Spartans are three matches in Florida for their spring break trip.  They will take on regional foe Bentley on Tuesday, March 10 at a site and time to be determined.

(-/5) St. Thomas Aquinas College 6, (-/4) Chestnut Hill College 1

March 5, 2020

Doubles

1.     (-/4) Odysseas Papaioannou/Roberto Chong (STAC) def. (-/3) Tom Pitchley/Erik Jorsal (CHC), 6-4

2.     Killian Dagneaux/Antoine Gautier (CHC) def. Enej Hasicevic/Alvaro Barranco (STAC), 6-4

3.     Luke Taplin/Mitch Harrison (STAC) def. No Player/No Player, default

Order of Finish:  3, 1*, 2

Singles

1.     (-/4) Odysseas Papaioannou (STACO def. (-/14) Tom Pitchley (CHC), 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (10)

2.     (-/7) Marcel Volz (STAC) def. (-/17) Killian Dagneaux (CHC), 6-2, 6-2

3.     Antoine Gautier (CHC) def. (-/11) Roberto Chong (STAC), 6-4, 5-0, retired

4.     Alvaro Barranco (STAC) def. Erik Jorsal (CHC), 7-5, 6-4

5.     Valentin Baranyi (STAC) def. Kai Adler (CHC), 7-5, 6-2

6.     Enej Hasicevic (STAC) def. No Player, default

Order of Finish:  6, 2, 3, 4*, 5, 1

(-/5) STAC – 6-0 (0-0 ECC)

(-/4) CHC – 2-2 (0-0 CACC)

Duration:  3:05