On Fri. April 1 to Sat., April 2, the men’s and women’s tennis team competed against Fairfield University at the Monmouth University Outdoor Tennis Complex on Beechwood Avenue. This marked the first game for both teams of the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) regular season. The men’s team won four to three against Fairfield, but the women’s team ultimately lost the match with a score of zero to seven.
Women’s Head Coach Patrice Murray said, “We went up against a good Fairfield team today. We will now look ahead and prepare for our match versus Quinnipiac next week.”
In the singles competition, Katrina Plumtree (Fairfield) defeated Junior Zoe Klapman 6-1, 6-1. Amanda Novak (Fairfield) defeated Junior Ann Spurka in two rounds, 6-2 and 6-2. Paulina Bakaite (Fairfield) defeated Sophomore Lenien Jamir. Jamir, had a close battle for a round but ultimately lost 7-5 and 6-1. Scarlett Hutchinson (Fairfield) defeated Maddison Mills 6-2, 6-4. At the last match of singles, Aina March of Fairfield defeated Freshman Jo Pax 6-1, 3-6, but almost had the last round, 10-7. In the double’s competition, the team earned a victory. Nicole Glasser and Lenien Jamir had a tough game, and defeated Scarlett Hutchinson and Francesca Karman (Fairfield) 6-4. In the following rounds, Amanda Novak and Katrina Plumtree (Fairfield) defeated Zoe Klapman and Jo Pax 6-4. In addition, Paulina Bakaite and Sandra Bozinovic of Fairfield defeated Ann Spurka and Maddison Mills 6-4.
On Saturday, the Men’s Tennis team earned a victory against the stags as the first conference win. The game put the team at a standing of 11-3 overall. Head Coach Chris Leicht noted, “We had a great team win today against a strong Fairfield team. We came back strong in singles after losing the doubles point and falling behind 1-0. Also, we competed very hard and stayed strong mentally even though the weather was difficult. It is exciting to start MAAC play 1-0.”
In the men’s singles to start off, Fairfield’s Kaya Gore defeated Niels Van Nord 6-3 and 6-2. Sophomore Dmitry Bezborodov responded, defeating Fairfield’s Charlie Morkel 6-4 and 6-2.
Junior Gabriel Busato defeated J. Olive-Blanco (Fairfield) with a score of 6-4 (two times). Fairfield’s Sam Hodges defeated Sophomore Charlie Penman with scores consisting of 6-2, 4-2, and 6-4.
Senior Lucca Silva won against Keean Shah (Fairfield) 6-2 and 6-2 and Graduate Student Trent Massam defeated Fairfield’s Griffin Schlesinger with scores of 6-3 and 6-0.
In the double’s competition, Fairfield’s J-Olive Blanco and Keean Shah won against Niels Van Noord and Charlie Penman 6-1. Monmouth came back, while Dmitry Bezborodov and Gabriel Busato defeated Kaya Gore and Will O’Brien 6-4. For the final doubles, Fairfield’s Charlie Morkel and Andrew Imminck defeated Trent Massam and Victor Castro 6-4; however, Monmouth’s team won enough matches to win the game.
Historically, the team has done outstanding against Fairfield. This recent win increases the Hawks winning streak of 14 wins in a row since their first ever matchup in 2007. Their streak has stuck since 2011 against the Stags.
The Men’s tennis team stayed on a roll and scored another MAAC win against Quinnipiac University in the afternoon on Monday, April 4th. The team won the match 7-0.
The team impressively won six singles matches and won two out of three doubles matches.
Head Coach Chris Leicht noted, “We had an awesome team win on the road against a solid Quinnipiac team. I am very happy and proud of our performance today and it is exciting to start MAAC play 2-0.”
Looking ahead, the men’s team will travel up to Marist College on Friday, April 8 with the first serve at 4 p.m.
