By Alexandria Sedlak

The men’s tennis team was busy this weekend.  They took a trip down to Pennsylvania on Friday to compete against Saint Joseph’s, and then came back to Fordham for two matches on their home court on Sunday.  Overall, Fordham fought hard and had a successful weekend.  They played a close tournament against Saint Joseph’s, which ended with a final score of 3-4.   The Rams defeated both Coppin State University and St. Francis College Brooklyn on Sunday with final scores of 6-1 and 4-3, respectively.

The Rams started out strong against Saint Joseph’s, winning two out of the three doubles matches to take the doubles point.  Senior Tomas Cosmai and freshman Allen Thornes won in second doubles with a score of 6-3.  In third doubles, senior Nick Borak and freshman Jeremy Chung defeated their opponents 6-3.  Saint Joseph’s came back to win most of the singles matches, but Fordham did have two singles wins.  In third singles, freshman Fabian Mauritzson split sets, but won in the tiebreaker with a score of 6-3, 6 (2) – 7, 10-6.  Borak, who played the fifth singles position, also went to three sets, defeating his opponent 6-0, 5-7, 7-5.  The final score for Friday’s tournament was 3-4, and the Rams returned home for their doubleheader on Sunday.

The men’s tennis team was victorious twice on Sunday.  Their matches against Coppin State were mostly sweeps, with a final score of 6-1.  The Rams secured all of the doubles matches, earning the doubles point.  Cosmai and Thornes won the first doubles match 6-1, while junior Joseph Kavaloski and freshman Steven Duka won the second doubles match 6-0.  In third doubles, juniors Harris Durkovic and Cameron Posillico defeated their opponents with a score of 6-2.  Fordham also grabbed all but one of the singles matches.  Mauritzson played first singles, winning in a tiebreaker, while Chung played second singles, dropping it in the third set.  Thornes, Posillico, Durkovic and freshman Gabriel Mashaal all won their singles matches in two sets.

Fordham was victorious over St. Francis with a final score of 4-3.  The doubles matches were all wins for Fordham.  Sophomore Victor Li and Mauritzson played first doubles, and they won 6-1, while Cosmai and Thornes also ended with a score of 6-1 in second doubles.  Kavaloski and Borak were in the lead in third doubles when the match was halted at 4-2.  The opposition became tougher in the singles play, with Fordham winning three and losing three. Cosmai, who played second singles, Borak, who played fourth singles and Duka, who played fifth singles, all fought hard to stay in their matches.  They eventually fell, giving St. Francis three points. Kavaloski, in the sixth singles position, was the first match to finish, scoring a 6-0, 6-0 win for the Rams.  Li, in first singles, won his match 6-1, 7-6 (5).  This tied the final score at 3-3, with only Mauritzson left playing in the third singles position.  He battled his opponent to the end, winning his match 7-5, 6-2, and he earned Fordham the final point, making the score 4-3.

The Rams found much success at the end of this weekend, and they hope to continue this trend through to the end of their tennis season.  They will be playing again on the Saturday of Easter weekend, when they will be hosting Siena College on their home courts at noon.