2008 Woodie Awards
Men's Tennis Slices through St. Francis, FDU
Travis FlynnStaff Reporter
Issue date: 4/14/05 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
|
SHU swept the double matches over the weekend. Freshmen Jared Dye and Joe Merendino won their number one doubles match 8-4, while junior Peter George and senior Alex Kantarelis dominated their doubles match, dropping only one game in the match. McDonnell and sophomore Kevin Guidicipietro won number three doubles 8-0 over St. Francis.
A meet consists of seven points with six coming from the singles matches and the tiebreaker going to the team that wins two of three doubles matches.
"Pete has been playing some really good tennis these last couple of days. His overall game has been very solid and he has not been missing many shots," said Mark Maleri, a freshman from Seymour.
"[Alex has] been playing with a lot of confidence and it has shown on the court," said Chris McDonnell, a freshman from Naugatuck. "Alex's serve gets better and better as the year goes on."
"We had huge wins from Chris McDonnell and Peter George," said Kantarelis of Worcester, MA.
With the victory over FDU, SHU maintain sole possession of second place in the Northeast Conference heading toward the NEC Championship.
The Pioneers will host top seeded Quinnipiac today (Thursday) at 2 p.m. The two teams will collide to see who can garner more momentum going into the NEC Championship.
"They beat us in the championship last year and we are ready to give them everything we have," said Kantarelis.
Sacred Heart appear to have a bright future as six of the eleven members are freshmen, including number one, number three, and number five singles players Dye, Merendino, and McDonnell, respectively.
"We have a young team this year and at first I was a little nervous how things would work out, but everyone has been working hard and stroking the balls long and hard," said George, a native of Lynnfield, MA.
"Jared Dye is a great addition to the team with his big serve and volley style game.
"Chris McDonnell has turned out to be a great surprise to the team, transferring to Sacred Heart this year from Salve Regina.
"Kevin Guidicipietro, who has been having a great season thus far, has come up big for the Pioneers. We expect more great wins out of him now that he got his haircut, because now he can see the ball," said George.
George also cites Merendino as a key addition due in part to his "stellar form" while on the court.
While Dye and Merendino have combined to win four of their last five doubles matches, each has struggled in singles action, losing three of the last four.
During the recent span, George and Kantarelis, the number two and number four singles, have been nearly perfect. They have combined to go 12-1 in the past five competitions, including wins in three of their last four doubles matches.
The NECs will take place Friday, April 22 and Saturday, April 23 in West Windsor, NJ.