NEWARK, N.J. – The Saint Joseph's men's tennis team fell behind early but bounced back to win five of six singles flights on the way to a 5-2 victory at NJIT on Saturday.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• The hosts took the early lead via the doubles point.  Othman Bezzaz and Ernesto Ruy claimed the second flight, but the Hawks were unable to secure a second victory to take the point.
 
• The Hawks turned things around in singles play.  Santiago Valle and Damir Abdusamadov won the matches in the first and second flights, respectively, after rallying from a set down.
 
• Ruy and Bezzaz were winners in the third and fourth flights to seal the match; both claimed the first set and dropped the second but rallied to claim the point in the third.
 
• Jakob Gaudreau Barnes won his match in a supertiebreaker in the sixth flight to round out the scoring.

HAWK TALK
"Today was a great team win for our program," head coach Jeff Puhan said.  "The guys came out energized and ready to go.  I'm really proud of how they rebounded from yesterday's match.  We're looking to build some momentum going into next weekend's matches."

UP NEXT
The Hawks host Lehigh on February 20.
 
RESULTS
 
Saint Joseph's 5, NJIT 2
 
Doubles
1. Soma Fukuhara / Will Jenkins (NJIT) def. Damir Abdusamadov / Santiago Valle (SJU), 6-4
2. Othman Bezzaz / Ernesto Ruy (SJU) def. Riccardo Campagnola / Maxime Hankins (NJIT), 6-3
3. Severan Risan / Nejc Skorjanc (NJIT) def. Jakob Gaudreau Barnes / Sehaj Singh Pawar (SJU), 7-5
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
 
Singles
1. Valle (SJU) def. Jenkins (NJIT), 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (0)
2. Abdusamadov (SJU) def. Fukuhara (NJIT), 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
3. Ruy (SJU) def. Skorjanc (NJIT), 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
4. Bezzaz (SJU) def. Campagnola (NJIT), 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-1
5. Yerassyl Bakhtiyar (NJIT) def. Pawar (SJU), 6-0, 6-1
6. Gaudreau Barnes (SJU) def. Hankins (NJIT), 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 (STB)
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2, 4, 5, 6