Orangeburg, N.Y. – The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Tennis team opened its Spring 2023 season, earning a big 4-3 victory over perennial Division I Northeast power Fairleigh Dickinson University, on Saturday evening at Match Point Tennis Club in Orangeburg.
STAC opened the contest, taking the doubles point on the strength of victories in #1 doubles (Ludovico Truffelli & Odysseas Papaioannou def. Mehdi Dhouib & Younes Adnane), 6-3 and then #3 doubles (Tony Khamassi & Ondrej Sramek def. Arjun Sriram & Joshua Oboniye), 6-3, after losing at the #2 position when Justas Trainauskas & Thomas Linley def. Tobias Fuerschuss & Don Vinz Lominoque, 6-3.
In singles action, FDU tied the score at 1-1, as #6 Thomas Linley def. Don Vinz Lominoque (6-2, 6-3), before the Spartans reclaimed the one-point advantage at 2-1 with #5 Ondrej Sramek def. Gryffin Minor (6-4, 6-1). FDU would battle to take a 3-2 advantage, as Teodors Puske scored a victory over Odysseas Papaioannou, 6-3, 6-3 in #1 singles and Mehdi Dhouib beat Ludovico Truffelli (7-6 (5), 7-6 (4)) at the #2 position. However, the Spartans would fight back in their remaining singles contests to take the team victory, as #4 Lennart Lehmann defeated Younes Adnane (6-3, 2-6, 6-3) to square things at 3-3. Then Tobias Fuerschuss' 7-6 (3), 2-6, 7-6 (3) triumph over Justas Trainauskas at the #3 spot clinched the match and gave the maroon and gold a very important victory over a quality Knights squad.
STAC 4/FDU 3 - OFFICIAL RESULTS
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3*
SINGLES
2. Mehdi Dhouib (FDU) def. Ludovico Truffelli (STAC) 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4)
3. Tobias Fuerschuss (STAC) def. Justas Trainauskas (FDU) 7-6 (3), 2-6, 7-6 (3)
4. Lennart Lehmann (STAC) def. Younes Adnane (FDU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
5. Ondrej Sramek (STAC) def. Gryffin Minor (FDU) 6-4, 6-1
6. Thomas Linley (FDU) def. Don Vinz Lominoque (STAC) 6-2, 6-3
Order of Finish: 6, 5, 1, 2, 4, 3*
"I was really pleased with our doubles as much of our focus in practice has been on being more aggressive. We moved forward a lot and applied pressure throughout the sets on all courts."
"Nearly all singles players demonstrated grit and made themselves difficult to beat. It was nice to witness the guys battle for each other and fight for every point. Having Tobi's experience and leadership has been a huge lift for us. He was the perfect player to have on the court with the match tied 3-3."
"Ondrej was named the team's most impactful player of the match", remarked Coach Rockhill. "He is playing with a high level of confidence which he has built by mastering his craft and working hard on his conditioning. I strongly believe in him and think he will have a tremendous career at STAC."
"We will enjoy this win for 24 hours and then get back to work to prepare for Adelphi which I expect will be an extremely tough challenge. We are trying to win each day in practice, improve our conditioning and get better every day."
UP NEXT:
St. Thomas Aquinas hosts Adelphi University on Saturday, February 18 (6:45 p.m.) at the Match Point Tennis Club in Orangeburg.