By Dylan Balsamo

The Fordham men’s tennis squad got their spring season underway on Saturday in Harrison at Life Time Athletic against Philadelphia’s La Salle University and came out on top in a 5-2 victory.

The Rams came out of the gate strong by winning the doubles point by taking two of the three doubles matches. Those two victories were in the second doubles by junior Fabian Hansch Mauritzson and sophomore Lutwin de Macar over Connor Merrill and Rogelio Gonzalez, 7-6 (7-4) and third doubles by Allen Thornes and Jofre Segarra defeating Aandrija and Colin Lucius 7-6 (7-3), both in tiebreakers.

After the win in a tight doubles round, Fordham took hold of the evening by claiming victory in four of the six singles matches, accounting for the rest of the five points they earned. It was sophomore Alex Makatsaria who opened up the singles with a Rams victory by beating Patrick Pascual 6-1, 6-0, and then Finn Kemper, who kept the good times rolling with a 6-0, 6-3 win, besting Nassim Fenjiro.

Green guaranteed a Fordham win for the night by beating Merrill 6-3, 6-2. After Mauritzson and de Macar lost their matches (with Mourey 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 10-5 and with Gonzalez 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, respectively), Thornes ended the day on a high note, defeating Lucius 5-7, 6-4, 10-3.

Head coach Mike Sowter discussed the fact that it was clear this early season matchup would “be a great test” for this squad. “They are a solid team,” he says, “and this will give us a better indication of where we stand and what we need to work on.”

The next step for these Rams: a Feb. 1 match at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center in New Haven, Conn. against Fairfield University.