Fordham Men’s Tennis had three matches on the slate over the last two weeks starting with a dominant victory in Worcester against the College of the Holy Cross by a score of 6-1 on April 6. Starting off strong has been a key all season for the Rams and they did just that against the Crusaders, winning all three doubles matches to grab the first point of the day.

Following the impressive start, Fordham continued their stellar play onto the singles courts where graduate student Quinn Fender took care of business against the Crusaders’ Alessandro Bizzarri coming out on top in straight sets 6-1, 6-0. Other impressive performances included freshman Dhillon Virdee-Oakley with a 7-5, 6-4 win and senior Toi Kobayashi’s come-from-behind victory, 4-6, 6-4, 1-0(4). The Rams youth also came to play as freshmen John Mascone (6-3, 6-3) and Sampras Rakotondrainibe (6-2, 6-2), both won with ease, giving hope for not only the present but the future of Fordham Men’s Tennis.

Following their resounding win in Massachusetts, the Rams carried their momentum on the road to Lawrenceville, N.J. where they shut out Rider University 7-0.

Within the domination, Virdee-Oakley’s 7-5, 6-4 victory in the #2 singles spot stood out the most. Not only was it the second consecutive singles victory for the freshman, but Virdee-Oakley was rewarded for his stellar play by being named the Atlantic 10 Men’s Tennis Rookie of the Week. In combination with his doubles play, Virdee-Oakley was a flawless 4-0 and played a crucial role in the Rams success over the week. Virdee-Oakley joins fellow freshman Sampras Rakotondrainibe as the other Rams rookie to take home the award this season.

Moving on, the Rams were disappointed to see their match canceled against St. Joseph’s University on Saturday, April 15, but quickly hit the courts again against St. John’s University the following Sunday. Unfortunately for Fordham, they could not make it three in a row, falling to the Red Storm 6-1. St. John’s presented a tough matchup for the Rams, posting a record of 16-5 going into the Sunday showdown. After narrowly losing the doubles point, the Rams only mustered one singles victory courtesy of Fender’s tie breaking victory, 1-6, 6-2, 10-8. Despite the loss, head coach David Slater was impressed by his Rams team and especially from the victory from Fender.

“This was one of the best teams we have played against all year and we were close to taking the doubles point,” said Slater. “On top of that Quinn had one of the best wins of the season against a St. John’s player who has been nationally ranked this year.”

The Rams will look to close out their season strong as they will head over to Cocoa, Fla. to take on Eastern Florida State College on Tuesday, April 25. Following the match against the Titans, Fordham will head immediately into the A-10 tournament which will carry on through the week and into Saturday with the Rams hoping to come back from their trip in the Sunshine State with some hardware.