By Alexandria Sedlak

Over this past weekend, the Fordham men’s tennis team played in its last tournament of the Fall season. This was the Navy Invitational in Annapolis, Maryland. It was a long weekend. Over the course of a couple days, each team member played up to six matches. There were a number of other colleges and universities at the meet, including George Mason University, Saint Joseph’s University, Georgetown University, Navy and Air Force. It was a very tough competition, which pushed the Rams to fight hard and never give up.

There were more singles matches than doubles matches with a number of losses and wins.  Sophomore Victor Li played first singles, which included three matches. He lost his first match to George Mason 4-6, 2-6.  His next match was extremely close and he fought till the end, but he ultimately lost to Georgetown in a three set match of 5-7, 7-5, 2-6.  His final match was against Saint Joseph with an end score of 4-6, 1-6.

Freshman Allen Thornes played in the sixth singles bracket.  He lost his first match to George Mason 2-6, 0-6, but he fought back in his next match, pushing it to three sets. This three setter was against Georgetown, with an end score of 6-4, 1-6, 3-6.

Fellow freshman Jeremy Chung competed in the 10th singles spot.  He won his first match against Saint Joseph 6-2, 2-6, 6-2, and then he lost the next two matches to George Mason with a close score of 6-7 (4-7), 3-6 and to Air Force with a score of 2-6, 4-6.

Freshman Gabriel Mashaal played the 11th singles spot, first falling to Navy 2-6, 1-6, and then losing to Georgetown 2-6, 4-6.  However, in his final singles match, he came back with a victory over Saint Joseph in a three setter with a score of 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Junior Joseph Kavaloski was in the 13th singles position.  In his first match, he lost to Air Force with a score of 2-6, 2-6. He came back to win against Saint Joseph, crushing his opponent by a score of 6-1, 6-2. The final block of singles matches was 14th singles, played by Fordham’s sophomore Cameron Posillico. He won his first match against Navy 6-3, 7-5, but then lost to Saint Joseph with a score of 2-6, 2-6.  In his final match, he brought it to three sets, but he ultimately fell to Saint Joseph with a score of 6-4, 1-6, 1-6.

The doubles matches saw similar results and styles of playing. Sophomore Victor Li and freshman Allen Thornes lost to George Mason with a set score of 6-8, and also to Georgetown with a score of 5-8. They came back to win their last match against Navy, 9-7, in the third doubles spot.

The freshman team of Jeremy Chung and Fabian Mauritzson played in the seventh doubles spot won their first match, defeating Saint Joseph 9-7.  They continued this winning streak, claiming victory over Navy with a breezy score of 6-2.  However, they fell in their final match to Air Force with a score of 8-2.

This was definitely a long, tiring weekend for the team, but they worked hard and kept going.  They held onto each set and made sure they played their best, no matter the results. This was the final tournament of their Fall season, and from now until their next match in January, the Fordham Rams will be practicing, training and perfecting their skills so they can have an even better spring season.

The men’s tennis team hits the courts again on Jan. 28, when they host Davidson College at Life Time Athletics in Harrison, N.Y.