After a successful spring break for Fordham’s Men’sTennis, winning three in a row to stretch their total win streak to four, the Rams hit a rough patch in their next series of matches, losing five in a row.
Fordham started this run of contests by traveling to Queens to face Saint John’s University. It was a match to forget for Fordham as they were shut out 0-6 by the Red Storm, unable to win a single point to end the four-match win streak.
The Red Storm opened the day by claiming the doubles point after winning both completed matches. St. John’s continued their dominance, winning five of the six completed matches for the 6-0 victory.
Hoping to shake off the tough loss, the Rams returned to the Bronx to square up against Sacred Heart University on a sunny Tuesday afternoon. A tightly contested battle ended in a 3-4 Fordham defeat.
The day started with Fordham taking the doubles point on the backs of wins in the first two matches. Sophomore John Mascone and senior Giorgio Soemarno took care of Matayas Vencl and Darius Eftekhar 6-2 to start the day. The Rams clinched the doubles point in the next match when senior Nicholas Kanazirev and sophomore Dhillon Virdee-Oakley narrowly beat Lefteri Apostolou and Enrique Laennec-Baffrey 6-4. With the doubles point already won, Fordham lost the last doubles match.
Sacred Heart evened up the score in fifth singles when Paul Goncalves beat Chen in straight sets, 6-0 and 6-2. Fordham retook the lead when Virdee-Oakley defeated Laennec-Baffrey 6-4 in set one before winning a tie-breaking point 7-2 to win the second set 7-6 in third singles.
The back-and-forth contest continued as Soemarno fell to Vencl in second singles 6-1 and 6-4 to tie the score back up. Sacred Heart took their first lead of the day in first singles when Apostolou outlasted Kanzirev in straight sets, 6-3 and 7-5. Big Red sealed the victory in sixth singles after Stojanovic won the first set 7-5 but lost the next two to Eftekhar 2-6 and 4-6. Fordham won the fourth singles match, but it wasn’t enough, falling 3-4.
Now on a two-game losing streak, Fordham had a quick turnaround, hosting Queens College the following day. It was another hard-fought contest but once again ended in a 3-4 Rams loss.
For the second straight day, Fordham started the day by taking the doubles point. Mascone and Soemarno won 6-3 over Omar El Shehawey and Lucas Foix Sotos before Queens College evened up the score with a 6-3 win of their own in third doubles. However, the duo of Kanazirev and Virdee-Oakley came to the rescue for the Rams with a 6-4 victory over Roni Rikkonen and Cameron Henricy to take the point.
The singles matches provided more tightly fought duels. Queens College tied up the score at one when Tim Andersson beat Virdee-Oakley in third singles 6-1 before finishing off the point with a 6-3 win. Like the last match, Fordham again retook the lead 2-1 when Kanazriev defeated Rikkonen in straight sets for a first singles victory.
The back-and-forth affair continued when El Shehawey took care of Stojanovic in fifth singles, 6-2 and 6-1. After a sixth singles victory from Noah Gauthier over Chen, Queens College snatched their first lead of the day 3-2.
With Fordham on the brink of losing, Mascone came through in fourth singles. He lost the first set 6-4 to Foix Sotos before bouncing back and winning the next two 6-3 and 6-1, retying the match at three a piece. In the deciding match, Soemarno squared off against Henricy. Soemarno took the first set 6-3 before losing the second 6-1 and setting up a decisive third set for the match. In this set, Henricy outlasted Soemarno 7-5 to hand Fordham their second straight 3-4 loss and third consecutive loss overall.
Up next for the Rams was an away matchup against George Mason University, where their losing streak would continue with a 0-5 loss. It was a tough day for Fordham as they could not win a single set. One of the three doubles matches, and two of the six singles matches went unfinished.
The following day, the Rams’ fortunes did not turn in the right direction, with another shutout loss coming to the University of Richmond this time. Fordham again did not win a set, losing 4-0 after three singles wins and a doubles win for the Spiders. Three singles matches went unfinished.
The five losses put the Rams at 5-12 on the season. Looking ahead, Fordham will finish the season with home matches against Saint Joseph’s University and New York University, along with a Florida trip to face Eastern Florida State College before the Atlantic 10 Championship.
