OLEAN, N.Y. – Down 3-2 late in the match, the Saint Joseph's men's tennis team battled back to earn the final two singles points en route to a 4-3 win over St. Bonaventure on Wednesday afternoon.
“It was a great match, with good quality play and lots of drama,” head coach Ian Crookenden said. “A terrific battle that went down to the last singles match.”
In that final singles tilt, freshman Johnnie Massart gutted out a 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 win in the fifth flight to seal the deal. Earlier, junior Michael Santa Lucia had leveled the match with a 6-1, 6-1 win in the sixth.
St. Bonaventure (2-12 overall, 1-3 Atlantic 10) took the early lead, securing the doubles point with wins in the second and third flights. Santa Lucia and senior Tim Stierle were winners in the first doubles flight, rolling to a 6-1 result.
Stierle got Saint Joseph's (3-5 overall, 1-2 Atlantic 10) back on equal terms with a 6-4, 6-4 straight-sets triumph in the top flight. After the Bonnies went ahead, senior Peter Dewitt outlasted his third-flight foe, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, to tie the score at two apiece.
SBU would take the point from flight number two, getting to the precipice of victory, but Santa Lucia and Massart came through to give the Hawks the come-from-behind win.
The Hawks will wrap up their spring break road trip through the Atlantic 10 on Friday with a match at Duquesne.
Saint Joseph's 4, St. Bonaventure 3
Doubles
1. Michael Santa Lucia / Tim Stierle (SJU) def. Victor Blanco / Hector Martinez (SBU), 6-1
2. Guillermo Garcia / Ante Zovko (SBU) def. Andre Fick / Dan Tan (SJU), 6-4
3. Darrel Harxhi / Indra Patwardhan (SBU) def. Peter Dewitt / Johnnie Massart (SJU), 6-4
Singles
1. Stierle (SJU) def. Blanco (SBU), 6-4, 6-4
2. Martinez (SBU) def. Fick (SJU), 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
3. Dewitt (SJU) def. Parwardhan (SBU), 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
4. Zovko (SBU) def. Tan (SJU), 7-6 (5), 6-2
5. Massart (SJU) def. Lukas Linden Malmberg (SBU), 6-3, 5-7, 6-1
6. Santa Lucia (SJU) def. Joseph Blakeley (SBU), 6-1, 6-1
Game Scores
Singles: Saint Joseph's 80, St. Bonaventure 62
Doubles: Saint Joseph's 14, St. Bonaventure 13
Total: Saint Joseph's 94, St. Bonaventure 75
