Tennis | Hawks remain winless after weekend in Virginia

The Saint Joseph’s men’s and women’s tennis teams made a trip down to Norfolk, Va. for the Old Dominion Round Robin. The trip down south did not end well for either team, culminating in back-to-back losses for both the men’s and women’s teams.

The men’s team entered the round robin dealing with injury problems; Kevin Aquino, ’12, and Jeff Kessler, ’12, were unavailable, along with team captain Nick Tuxen, ’10. Still, the team powered on into Friday with a first round match against Christopher Newport University.

Things began well, and the match was very tightly contested for a while. Alex Veronis, ’13, and Peter Cognetti, ’12, teamed up for an 8-6 doubles victory. Veronis went on to earn a point for the Hawks in a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 singles victory. Fellow freshman Tommy Gates, ’13, went on to win his singles match in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3. However, these were the only two points St. Joe’s would manage against Christopher Newport University, as they dropped the other four doubles matches, finishing Friday with a 5-2 loss.

Action only intensified on the second day in Norfolk, as the men’s team was pitted against a very talented, highly-ranked host in Old Dominion. The doubles duo of Veronis and Cognetti fought hard against their opponents, but were unable to produce the prior day’s results, falling to the Old Dominion team of Yakov Diskin and Krzysztof Muzalewski 8-5.

Teammates Michael Stauble, ’10, and Matt Prusak, ’10, also put up a solid effort, but eventually fell 8-4. The singles matches ended as the doubles did, in defeat. However, Delfin Bernal, ’13, gave a valiant effort, dropping very close straight sets, 7-5 ad 6-4. Saturday ended in a 7-0 shutout, and the Hawks run in the Old Dominion Round Robin had come to an end.

The Saint Joseph’s women’s team had a rough go of things as well, faring no better than the men. In their first challenge on Friday, the Hawks ran into a brick wall in their match against conference foe Richmond. The Hawks went into Friday’s match without two of its starters and key contributors: Nicole Esposito, ’13, and Casey Robinson,’13. This proved too great a disadvantage to overcome. Jhennifer Kedzierski, ’10, and Laura Matz, ’12, began it all with a doubles match, but were bested despite a solid resistance, falling 8-2 to Richmond’s Erin Clark and Helen Cunningham. No Hawk duo seemed to be able to surpass its Richmond counterparts, dropping the ensuing doubles matches 8-1 and 8-0 respectively.

Neither luck nor momentum seemed to shift to St. Joe’s side in the singles matches. The women’s team was unable to prevent Richmond from continuing their hot streak, dropping all seven consecutive matches. Still, Kedzierski managed to put up a solid fight against opponent Erin Clark, losing 6-3 and 6-3. Sally Kalani Stainier, ’12, came even closer to pulling out her match, but ultimately fell to Alex Smyth, only dropping her sets 6-4 and 6-3. By the end of Friday, St. Joe’s found itself on the losing end of a 7-0 Richmond victory.

Unfortunately, things were not slated to get any easier for the women’s team the next day. Saturday’s match was against Old Dominion, ranked 60th overall, Saint Joseph’s toughest competition this season. Robinson was still unavailable to play, but Esposito was back in action for Saturday’s contest. Unfortunately, it was not enough to prevent another rough match against an unrelenting opponent. The duo of Kedzierski and Matz was once again defeated in the opening of the match by an 8-2 margin. After falling behind in the doubles event 1-0, the Hawks could not find a way to bounce back. The team had an even rougher round than the day before, coming no closer to victory than a 6-3, 6-0 effort from Esposito. For the second day in a row, St. Joe’s fell 7-0, which marked the end of the run for the St. Joe’s women’s in the Old Dominion Round Robin.

Up next for the men’s and women’s teams is a trip to Easton, Pa., on Friday to play against Lafayette.