The Monmouth University men’s tennis team opened their spring season with a tough 6-1 loss to Temple at the Little Silver Tennis Club on Feb. 4.
The Hawks opened their singles matches with five losses before senior Londoner Alexander Zuckerman handily defeated Temple’s Hussein El Tawil by scores of 6-2 and 6-3. Fifth-year Niels van Noord dropped both of his sets by scores of 6-4 to Marin Delmas.
Dmitry Bezborodov, Victor Castro and Lucca Silva each lost both of their sets as well. Junior Charlie Penman went to three sets with Thibault Frumholz after claiming the second set 6-0, but ultimately dropped the third set 6-4 for a fifth Hawks loss in singles matches.
The Hawks did not fare much better in doubles matches, where they won one out of three. Castro and Van Noord first lost to Delmas and Gregoire Barety 7-5 before Penman and Christof Zeiler knocked off Frumholz and Leo Raquin 6-4. Louis Gorregues and El Tawil closed things out for Temple with a 7-6 win over Bezborodov and Diego Laporta. The Hawks will next face both Holy Cross and Rider on Saturday, Feb. 11.
One day later at Little Silver Tennis Club, the Lady Hawks also competed and saw just as little success, falling 7-0 to St. John’s. Duos of Lauren Landstrom and Ann Spurka, and Zoe Klapman and Hana McKinney each lost their doubles matches by scores of 6-4, and Lenien Jamir and Madison Mills were shut out 6-0. The rough afternoon continued into the singles matches, with Spurka dropping both of her sets 6-1, and McKinney losing hers 6-1 and 6-2. Landstrom, Lana Brezanin, and Jordyn Pax each lost theirs before Klapman ultimately came up short after a tiebreaker set. The Lady Hawks will have almost two weeks off before traveling down to Maryland to face Loyola on Saturday, Feb. 18.
The Monmouth University men’s swimming team also had a tough loss in the past week, falling to La Salle 165-123 at La Salle’s Kirk Pool in their final regular season matchup of the year. Grad student Callan Smith and senior Cole Dyson each picked up individual victories for the Hawks, with senior Dylan Edge joining them with a first-place finish of his own. Dyson’s win gives him eight this year and 20 in his career, while Smith has 18 this year and a whopping 91 for his career. Edge’s win was his first of the season and 17th of his career.
With the tight loss in their rearview mirror, the squad will shift their focus to the upcoming CAA Championships, starting on Feb. 22 at the Hampton Aquaplex in Hampton, Virginia.
