Men's Tennis Sweeps St. John's, 4-0
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – In head coach Aljosa Piric’s debut at the helm, the University of Miami men’s tennis team won its season opener, 4-0, against St. John’s University Friday at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
“I think it is always good to start a year off with a win. I was pleased with our energy; I was pleased with our fight today,” Piric said. “We came out in doubles ready to play. As a team we have been talking about playing from the first to last point and that is what we did in doubles.”
The Hurricanes began the afternoon strong in doubles play, sweeping the Red Storm. Junior Christian Langmo and his sophomore teammate Dane Dunlap defeated Daniel Skripnik and Ognjen Trejgut, 6-3. Immediately following the earned match point, the duo of senior Jesse Flores and junior Nile Clark closed out their match against Andrei Crapcenco and Alex Roszkowski, 6-3.
At No. 1, No. 22 Max Andrews and Piotr Lomacki were leading their match, 4-3, over Roberto Livi and Alan Nunez-Aguilera before it was left unfinished
The Hurricanes continued to dominate early in singles play, with all six competitors – Lomacki, Langmo, Flores, Andrews, Dunlap and junior Kevin Bondar – taking opening set victories of their respected matches.
“In singles play, we had a lot of good first sets. Piotr came back from being down 5-3, to win the first set, 7-5. We had Dane and Kevin give us a couple quick points, down at five and six, and obviously Christian closed it out with a pretty good win at the two,” Piric said. “Overall it was a good day with a lot of positives, but we still have a lot of room to grow and improve and that is what we are going to keep doing for the rest of the year.”
At No. 6, Dunlap earned his first-career dual match victory and the second point of the match for UM with a straight-set victory over Adolfo Blanco, 6-3, 6-2.
At No. 5 and celebrating his birthday, Bondar took down Ognjen Trejgut, 6-4, 6-3, to give the Canes a 3-0 lead with four matches left in play.
Langmo sealed the first victory of the season, delivering a strong performance against Alan Nunez-Aguilera winning both sets, 6-2, 6-3.
The trio of No. 86 Lomacki, Flores and Andrews did not complete their matches following the clinching of the match by Langmo.
Miami will return to the Neil Schiff Center Sunday at 2 p.m., against the University of North Florida, before taking a two-week break prior to facing Troy University on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 12 p.m.
“We know North Florida is a really good team, a veteran team. They have many seniors there who are good veteran players and we are certainly going to be in for a fight there,” Piric stated. “And, again, if we come back and are ready to play and face the adversity and embrace the adversity we can be really good and the result can be positive for us.”
To keep up to date with the men’s tennis team, follow the squad on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @CanesMensTennis.
Miami 4, St. John’s 0
Singles Competition
1. No. 86 Piotr Lomacki (UM) vs. Roberto Livi (SJU) 7-5, 1-3, unfinished
2. Christian Langmo (UM) def. Alan Nunez-Aguilera (SJU) 6-2, 6-3
3. Jesse Flores (UM) vs. Andrei Crapcenco (SJU) 6-1, 4-6, 1-1, unfinished
4. Max Andrews (UM) vs. Daniel Skripnik (SJU) 6-4, 3-3, unfinished
5. Kevin Bondar (UM) def. Ognjen Trejgut (SJU) 6-4, 6-3
6. Dane Dunlap (UM) def. Adolfo Blanco (SJU) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles Competition
1. No. 22 Max Andrews/Piotr Lomacki (UM) vs. Roberto Livi/Alan Nunez-Aguilera (SJU) 4-3, unfinished
2. Christian Langmo/Dane Dunlap (UM) def. Daniel Skripnik/Ognjen Trejgut (SJU) 6-3
3. Nile Clark/Jesse Flores (UM) def. Andrei Crapcenco/Alex Roszkowski (SJU) 6-3
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (6,5,2)
