ORLANDO, Fla. – Johnnie Massart rallied for a 2-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (1) win in the fifth singles flight to give the ninth-seeded Saint Joseph's men's tennis team a 4-3 victory over eighth-seeded Duquesne at the USTA National Campus on Thursday morning.  The Hawks will now move on to meet top-seeded VCU in the quarterfinals on Friday.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Duquesne took the early lead via the doubles point, winning both matches that were completed.  The Dukes then took the first singles match to be completed, the third flight, to double their lead.

• Saint Joseph's bounced back, however, to level the match after Nathan Perrone was a 6-4, 6-2 winner in the top flight and Nickolas Frisk claimed a 7-5, 6-3 result in the second.

• Luis Janko put the Hawks ahead with a sixth-flight victory, outlasting his opponent, 7-6 (4), 7-5, but the Dukes claimed the fourth flight to set up the winner-take-all scenario in the fifth.

• Massart dropped the first set before winning the second in a tiebreaker.  He then went ahead 5-1 in the decisive third set before Duquesne's Tamirlan Teberikov rallied back to take a 6-5 lead.  Massart held serve to send the match to a tiebreaker, where he won seven of the eight points to send the Hawks into the quarterfinals.

HAWK TALK
"What an incredible day for the Hawks," assistant coach Marc Pibernat said after the match.  "We set a goal before the Drexel match to win the next three matches we had, and the team came up huge every time.  This feels very special for us, and the guys fought hard to ger us where we are.  There were definitely ups and downs this season, but this season is the best we have had by far.

"A special mention to Johnnie, who clinched it for us; he has had an unbelievable season on and off the court, and no one deserves it more than him.  Also to Nicko [Frisk], who has come up huge these last three matches for us, playing incredible tennis and being in a very good state of mind, which the team has used to feed from his incredible energy.  Tomorrow we are facing a tough opponent, and I want the guys to put up a massive fight again.  Let's go Hawks!"

"I could not be prouder of the job Coach Pibernat and the men's squad did today in upsetting Duquesne to advance to the quarterfinals," head coach Ian Crookenden said.  "It was a true team effort and Hawk courage was never better displayed on all courts.  It was Johnnie Massart's turn to step up and he did with a convincing third set tiebreak victory.  He shook off the nerves and tension of the match-clinching situation and played a flawless tiebreak to seal a Hawk victory.

Who knows whose turn it will be tomorrow, or the next time that challenge occurs, but a standard has been set and I could not be happier."

UP NEXT
SJU will meet top-seeded VCU at 9:00 a.m. on Friday.

RESULTS

#9 Saint Joseph's 4, #8 Duquesne 3

Doubles
1. Alejandro Rodriguez-Vidal / Tamirlan Teberikov (DUQ) def. Eshan Kanetkar / Nathan Perrone (SJU), 6-1
2. Nickolas Frisk / Francesco Mowrey (SJU) led Alex Mascioli / Joey Matthews (DUQ), 5-2
3. Jin Dassanayake / Kaipo Marshall (DUQ) def. Alex MacNeil / Johnnie Massart (SJU), 6-3
Order of Finish: 1, 3

Singles
1. Perrone (SJU) def. Mascioli (DUQ), 6-4, 6-2
2. Frisk (SJU) def. Rodriguez-Vidal (DUQ), 7-5, 6-3
3. Marshall (DUQ) def. Kanetkar (SJU), 6-4, 6-3
4. Dassanayake (DUQ) def. Mowrey (SJU), 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
5. Massart (SJU) def. Teberikov (DUQ), 2-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (1)
6. Luis Janko (SJU) def. Bode Vance (DUQ), 7-6 (4), 7-5
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2, 6, 4, 5

Game Scores
Singles: Saint Joseph's 76, Duquesne 72
Doubles: Duquesne 14, Saint Joseph's 9
Total: Duquesne 86, Saint Joseph's 85