CALDWELL, NJ - The St. Thomas Aquinas men's tennis team ran into a buzzsaw, as red-hot Caldwell University defeated the Spartans 8-1 on Sunday afternoon. The Cougars swept all three doubles matches to command a huge lead that proved to be insurmountable for the Spartans.
Andreu Ferragut '18 (Palma de Mallorca, Spain) was the lone winner for STAC, winning at third singles over Lucas Bottari 6-2, 6-3. Ferragut jumped out to early leads in both sets, and cruised to a comfortable finish.
It looked like the Spartans would pick up a second win and gain some momentum at the #2 singles spot, as Javier Munoz '17 (Sevilla, Spain) hit what appeared to be the winning shot in the third set super tie break. A controversial "out" call proved to be his undoing, however, and Munoz was not able to regain his footing and dropped the match 6-7 (4), 6-4, 0-1 (11).
The struggles continued for STAC at first singles, as Aaron Stahl '18 (Dusseldorf, Germany) saw his singles winning streak come to an end, losing to fellow countryman Max Ziegler 5-7, 3-6. Stahl had won eleven consecutive singles matches, and is now 12-3 on the season in singles competition.
Roger Almato '19 (Vic, Spain) battled in his fourth singles match, but lost to a hot Lucas Andrada 2-6, 4-6.
Caldwell improves to 6-3 on the season, while St. Thomas Aquinas falls to 9-5, losing only their second regional match of the year. The Spartans are back in action Tuesday, April 12 at Post University. The match will start at 3:00 p.m., weather pending.
Caldwell 8, St. Thomas Aquinas 1