PHILADELPHIA, PA – The St. Thomas Aquinas College men’s and women’s tennis teams swept their opponents from the University of the Sciences on Columbus Day, with both teams shaking off slow starts in doubles to take the win.
In men’s doubles, Marcel Volz ’22 (Iffezheim, Germany) and Alvaro Barranco ’21 (Lleida, Spain) took at 6-4 win at second doubles, while Paul Voigt ’21 (Cologne, Germany) and Enej Hasicevic ’20 (Mallorca, Spain) got the band back together to take a 7-5 win at third doubles. The number one pairing of Odysseas Papaioannou ’22 (Thessaloniki, Greece) and Roberto Chong ’21 (Puigpunyent, Spain) couldn’t find their footing, dropping a close match 7-5.
On the women’s side, the second pairing of Eliza Mulder ’23 (Schoonhoven, Netherlands) and Ayesha Burnett ’23 (Wellington, New Zealand) were the only victors for the Spartans, taking their match by virtue of a 6-2 score. The freshman duo had tremendous energy and stayed on the attack for the duration of the match, finishing off their opponents with expert movement on the court.
While the doubles portion was finishing, Tim Fleerkamp ’20 (Waalres, Netherlands) won 6-4, 6-1 at fifth singles to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead. Volz would finish his second singles match 6-2, 6-1 to put the visitors ahead 3-0, while Chong would win at third singles to clinch the match. Voigt would round out the scoring with a 6-1, 6-1 win at sixth singles.
After dropping their doubles point, the Lady Spartans were staring at a 3-0 deficit after losing at third and second singles, respectively. Sofia Shutko ’21 (Kiev, Ukraine) would get things rolling with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 win at first singles, taking down the 19th-ranked singles player in the East Region. Burnett was next, with a 6-0, 6-2 win at sixth singles, while Lopez won 6-4, 6-0 at fifth singles to even the match score at 3-3, and set the stage for an epic showdown at fourth singles.
Cassandra Rohr ’21 (Mallorca, Spain) dropped her first set 6-2 and looked to be spent. The junior Spaniard mustered up enough energy to take the second set 6-4, and her mental fortitude took over in the third set as she won 6-2 to clinch the match.
The women’s team improves to 8-3 overall on the season, and host Jefferson University on Thursday at 3 PM. The men are now 2-0 and will face Franklin Pierce on Friday at 2 PM.
WOMEN – St. Thomas Aquinas 4, University of the Sciences 3
Doubles
1. Militc/Williams (USP) def. Shutko/Lopez (STAC), 7-5
2. Mulder/Burnett (STAC) def. Mazurek/Anwar (USP), 6-2
3. Sosonkin/Para (USP) def. Mentrup/O’Brien (STAC), 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1. Shofia Shutko (STAC) def. #19 Karla Militic (USP), 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
2. Myka Williams (USP) def. Eliza Mulder (STAC), 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
3. Stephanie Mazurek (USP) def. Carla Mentrup (STAC), 6-1, 6-2
4. Cassandra Rohr (STAC) def. Myra Anwar (USP), 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
5. Katarina Lopez (STAC) def. Diana Sosonkin (USP), 6-4, 6-0
6. Ayesha Burnett (STAC) def. Julia James (USP), 6-0, 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1, 6, 5, 4*
St. Thomas Aquinas – 8-3 (3-2 ECC)
University of the Sciences 6-5 (6-1 CACC)
MEN – St. Thomas Aquinas 5, University of the Sciences 0
Doubles
1. Markusic/Serra (USP) def. Papaioannou/Chong (STAC), 7-5
2. Volz/Barranco (STAC) def. Kosiorowski/Gildea (USP), 6-4
3. Voigt/Hasicevic (STAC) def. Chandragiri/Chamala (USP), 7-5
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1. Odysseas Papaioannou (STAC) vs. Oscar Serra (USP), 2-6, 6-4, unfinished
2. Marcel Volz (STAC) def. Jack Kosiorowski (USP), 6-2, 6-1
3. Roberto Chong (STAC) def. Borna Markusic (USP), 6-2, 6-2
4. Alvaro Barranco (STAC) vs. Sahas Chandragiri (USP), 0-1, unifinished
5. Tim Fleerkamp (STAC) def. Heimraj Resaul (USP), 6-4, 6-1
6. Paul Voigt (STAC) def. Brandon Gildea (USP), 6-1, 6-1
Order of Finish: 5, 2, 3*, 6
St. Thomas Aquinas – 2-0 (0-0 ECC)
University of the Sciences – 1-3 (0-0 CACC)