Men's Tennis Falls at Lehigh, 5-2

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – A pair of singles wins were not enough on Friday afternoon as the Saint Joseph's men's tennis team suffered a 5-2 defeat at Lehigh. Senior Andre Fick and sophomore Nathan Perrone claimed victories in both singles and doubles play in the match, which was scheduled for outdoor play but was moved indoors due to weather conditions.

Fick and Perrone notched a 6-3 win in the first doubles flight, but the Mountain Hawks took both the second and third flights to grab the first point of the day.

SJU answered once singles play commenced, as Perrone rolled in his first-flight match, 6-3, 6-4, while Fick secured a 6-4, 7-5 win in the second.

Unfortunately for the visiting Hawks, Lehigh would win the final four singles matches – three of them going the distance – to secure the overall victory.

“[It was] a tough loss on the road against Lehigh,” assistant coach Marc Pibernat said. “The team competed hard overall, especially after the difficult week we had practice-wise, since we could not hit for a couple of days due to weather conditions and not having indoor courts. Everyone left everything they had on the court, and I want to make a special mention of Nathan Perrone and Andre Fick for their wins in doubles and singles. We have a big match coming up against Richmond on Friday, and the team will start preparing for it tomorrow.”

The Hawks and Spiders will meet at the SJU Tennis Complex on March 29.

Lehigh 5, Saint Joseph's 2

Doubles
1. Andre Fick / Nathan Perrone (SJU) def. Zack Elliott / Harry Wang (LEH), 6-3
2. Jacob Edelchik / Gary Fishkin (LEH) def. Scott Battaglia / Alex MacNeil (SJU), 6-4
3. Bryan Born / Andrew Nakhjavan (LEH) def. Eshan Kanetkar / Dan Tan (SJU), 7-6 (2)

Singles
1. Perrone (SJU) def. Wang (LEH), 6-3, 6-4
2. Fick (SJU) def. Elliott (LEH), 6-4. 7-5
3. Jack Martin-Dyer (LEH) def. Johnnie Massart (SJU), 6-3, 7-5
4. Fishkin (LEH) def. Tan (SJU), 2-6, 6-1, 6-1
5. George Cooper (LEH) def. Kanetkar (SJU), 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
6. Edelchik (LEH) def. Luis Janko (SJU), 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 (supertiebreak)

Game Scores
Singles: Lehigh 68, Saint Joseph's 63
Doubles: Lehigh 16, Saint Joseph's 16
Total: Lehigh 84, Saint Joseph's 79