MEDIA, Pa. – In a matchup of two teams ranked in the most recent ITA rankings, the 73rd-ranked Saint Joseph's men's tennis team held off #70 Lehigh, 4-3, at Springton Tennis Club on Friday.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Hawks took the early lead via the doubles point.  Othman Bezzaz and Ernesto Ruy were 6-2 winners in the second flight before Jakob Gaudreau Barnes and Sehaj Singh Pawar sealed the point with a 6-2 win in the third.
 
• Lehigh drew level with a win in the sixth singles flight, but Gaudreau Barnes rolled to a 6-2, 6-0 win in the fifth to put the Hawks back on top.  The teams split the next two matches to finish, with the Mountain Hawks getting a win in the first flight and Ruy finishing off his third-flight opponent, 6-2, 6-3, for SJU.
 
• A second-flight victory for the guests left the match all square at 3-3 with just the fourth flight remaining.  The overall result came down to the fourth flight, where Bezzaz held off his opponent, 7-6 (8), 6-4, to send the Crimson and Gray to victory.
 
HAWK TALK
"What a great match today!" head coach Jeff Puhan said.  "The atmosphere was electric and we got it done."
 
UP NEXT
The Hawks host Bucknell on Saturday night.
 
RESULTS
 
#73 Saint Joseph's 4, #70 Lehigh 3
 
Doubles
1. Sean Jaeger / Alex Van Lumich (LEH) def. Damir Abdusamadov / Santiago Valle (SJU), 6-3
2. Othman Bezzaz / Ernesto Ruy (SJU) def. Aleksandar Daskalovic / Ofer Hacohen (LEH), 6-2
3. Jakob Gaudreau Barnes / Sehaj Singh Pawar (SJU) def. Rafael Gracie / Henry Stoller (LEH), 6-2
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
 
Singles
1. Jaeger (LEH) def. Valle (SJU), 6-4, 6-4
2. Van Lumich (LEH) def. Abdusamadov (SJU), 7-5, 6-4
3. Ruy (SJU) def. Hacohen (LEH), 6-2, 6-3
4. Bezzaz (SJU) def. Benedict Horn-Bourque (LEH), 7-6 (8), 6-4
5. Gaudreau Barnes (SJU) def. Jackson Morash (LEH), 6-2, 6-0
6. Stoller (LEH) def. Davi Carlos (SJU), 6-4, 6-0
Order of Finish: 6, 5, 1, 3, 2, 4