BRONX N.Y. – The Marist men's tennis team dropped a close match with Xavier on Friday afternoon, falling by a 4-3 score. Four of the six singles' matches went to a decisive third set and the match took an overall time of nearly four hours. The match was played at a neutral site in the Bronx.
Xavier, last year's runner up in the Atlantic 10 Conference, took the doubles point by sweeping the top two spots, both by 8-4 decisions. The duo of Trym Nagelstad (Oslo, Norway) and Fredrik Bjerke (Oslo, Norway) were tied at third doubles, 8-8, but did not finish as the point had already been decided.
Lorenzo Rossi (Lugano, Switzerland) won a tough 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 match at first singles, pulling the Red Foxes even.
Dalen Klassen (St. Louis, Mo.) also won his match at second singles, cruising to a 6-1 second-set victory after winning the first set in a tiebreaker 7-6 (1).
Bjerke continued his recent hot streak with a 6-4, 6-1 win at sixth singles.
Will Reznek (Toronto, Canada), Joris Van Eck (Ospel, The Netherlands), and Joseph Dube (Livonia, Mich.) all dropped heartbreaking three set decisions at third, fourth and fifth singles, respectively.
“Any time you take a team that has won Atlantic 10 Championships two of the past three years, to the limit, you have to be proud of the team's effort,” head coach Tim Smith said. “Rossi's extra work this past week really paid off with a win at first singles and Klassen played exceptionally well to win at second singles.”
Marist (7-3) returns home on Saturday for a non-conference match versus Boston University at the Marist Tennis Pavilion. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Friday's Results
Singles
Rossi (Marist) def. Robeker (Xavier): 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
Klassen (Marist) def. Mel (Xavier): 7-6(1), 6-1
Mueck (Xavier) def. Reznek (Marist): 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
McDonald (Xavier) def. Van Eck (Marist): 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
Krull (Xavier) def. Dube (Marist): 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
Bjerke (Marist) def. Bandy (Xavier): 6-4, 6-1
Doubles
Mel/Robeker (Xavier) def. Bishop/Klassen (Marist): 8-4
Bandy/Diaz (Xavier) def. Van Eck/Giudici (Marist): 8-4
Nagelstad/Bjerke (Marist) vs. Moe/Mueck (Xavier): 8-8 DNF
Become a fan of Marist Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/GoRedFoxes and follow us on Twitter @MaristAthletics.
-GoRedFoxes.com-
