Tennis | Hawks notch first win of season against Lafayette

The short trip to Easton, Pa. proved fruitful for the Saint Joseph's tennis programs, with the men's team picking up their first win of the season and the women falling just short in matches against Lafayette.

The seventh time was the charm for the men's team, which finally was able to notch its first win of the season, 4-1, after six straight losses dating back to the fall.

Tommy Gates,'13, was first to finish in the five matches started simultaneously, romping over James Murphy in fourth singles play, dispatching him 6-2, 6-0. That tempered St. Joe's lone defeat, which came at the hands of Doug Gallagher, who felled Matt Prusack, '10, 6-3, 6-3 in third singles.

Michael Stauble, '10, continued the momentum with his first singles win of the spring season, taking down Eric Wiley in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6.

Peter Cognetti, '12, and Lucho Perez-Abreu, '10, then captured the doubles point in a three-set battle against the Lafayette pair of Justin Haar and Scott Gelbman. The Hawks' pair rebounded after dropping the first set to earn the win, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Alex Veronis, '13, closed things out after the match was decided, toppling Steve Benezra in second singles, 7-5, 6-0, to push his record to 3-3 this spring, the best on the squad.
The win reflected the hard work head coach Ian Crookenden's team had put in against top-flight opponents the last few weeks.

"They have played some tough opponents," Crookenden said. "It's not that we have been playing badly, and against an opponent like Lafayette, the preparation started to show up. They were playing much more consistently and just sharper tennis than they had been, and they handled their opponents very comfortably."

On the women's side, the Hawks came close to notching their first win of the spring, but eventually fell to the Leopards, 3-2. The margin breaks a streak of four consecutive 7-0 shutouts to start the spring season, and drops the Hawks to 2-8 on the year and 0-5 for the spring.

Lafayette grabbed an early point in doubles play behind Kristie Cavanaugh and Katherine Charchalis, who survived a strong fight back from the St. Joe's duo of Tara Walsh, '12, and Jenna Procyk, '13, to prevail 6-1, 3-6, 6-2.

The Hawks rebounded through Maggie Mullaney, '11, who coasted to a 6-0, 6-1 win in first singles over Rachel Rohinsku.Nicole Esposito,'13, also pulled out a win in fourth singles, 6-2, 6-3 over Emily DeLuca.

But the Leopards were able to do just enough in singles play to eke out the win. Kelsey Grad easily got by Sally Kalani Stainier, '13, in third singles play, 6-0, 6-1, while St. Joe's Laura Matz, '12, produced a strong effort before falling to Caitlin Gordon in three sets, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5, in second singles.

Both teams' efforts look different when viewed in the light of the athletes they were missing. Perez-Abreu was in his first match after a shoulder injury; fellow senior Nick Tuxen, '10, has a similar injury that has limited his availability. Crookenden is taking it easy with both of them, and is targeting some rest for them so that they can return at full strength after spring break in two weeks.

Jeff Kessler, '12, is more of a long-term injury concern. The Brooklyn native, who figures into the number one doubles pair and a top-three singles position when healthy, has a back issue that has been bothering him for a while, and may be out for a few more weeks.

On the women's side of the draw, Casey Robinson, '13, and Jhennifer Kedzierske, '10, were both unavailable for the trip with short-term ailments, but Crookenden also expects them back in the next couple weeks.

The schedule doesn't let up for either team though, as the men's and women's squads play host to Fairfield at the Upper Dublin Sports Complex in Upper Dublin, Pa. on Feb. 26 and Colgate at the Arthur Ashe Tennis Center on March 1.