Men’s Tennis | March 28, 2021
VILLANOVA, Pa. – The La Salle University men’s tennis team jumped out to a 3-0 lead in its match against Villanova on Sunday, only to see the Wildcats win all four remaining singles matches to edge the Explorers in heartbreaking fashion, 4-3.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- La Salle opened the contest strong, winning two of the three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead.
- Seniors Rogelio Gonzalez and Connor Merrill earned a 6-2 win at No. 1, while freshman Dylan Tull and sophomore Brandon Caban took the battle at No. 3, 6-3
- Momentum continued into singles competition, with Fenjiro breezing past Eitan Khromchenko at No. 3.
- Gonzalez picked up his second straight win over Alex Kim in straight sets to put the Explorers on the brink of their first win over the Wildcats in at least a decade.
- Villanova, however, bounced back with straight-set victories at the bottom three singles positions and a hard-fought three-setter at No. 2 to clinch the win.
UP NEXT
- A busy week is ahead for the Explorers, who are scheduled to face Monmouth (Mar. 30), Loyola (Md.) (Apr. 1) and Lafayette (Apr. 2) over the next five days.
RESULTS
Villanova 4, La Salle 3
Doubles
1. Rogelio Gonzalez/Connor Merrill (LAS) def. Kim/Martinez (VU), 6-2
2. Robinson/Jones (VU) def. Nassim Fenjiro/Colin Lucius (LAS), 6-1
3. Brandon Caban/Dylan Tull (LAS) def. Khromchenko/Winton (VU), 6-3
Singles
1. Gonzalez (LAS) def. Kim (VU), 6-3, 6-4
2. Robinson (VU) def. Merrill (LAS), 6-4, 6-7, 6-2
3. Fenjiro (LAS) def. Khromchenko (VU), 6-2, 6-3
4. Cheng (VU) def. Lucius (LAS), 6-4, 6-1
5. Prokurat (VU) def. Tull (LAS), 6-2, 6-3
6. Nguyen (VU) def. Caban (LAS), 6-3, 7-5