The Saint Joseph's men's tennis team was ranked ninth in the Northeast Region in the latest rankings issued by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association on Wednesday.  Additionally, juniors Othman Bezzaz and Ernesto Ruy were the sixth-ranked doubles pair in the region.
 
Bezzaz, a native of Casablanca, Morocco, and Ruy, who hails from Atizapan de Zaragoza, Mexico, led the team with 17 doubles wins; they were such a fixture in the lineup that only one other pairing on the squad played together more than 17 times.  The duo went on a history-making run last season, reaching the semifinals of the ITA Northeast Regional Championships before falling in a supertiebreaker.  That qualified them for the ITA East Sectional Championships, where they won their first match before falling in the quarterfinals.
 
Their performance on the big stage helped earn Bezzaz and Ruy a #70 national ranking, making them the first Hawks to be ranked by the ITA.
 
As a team, the Hawks earned a #73 national ranking in February and would go on to be seeded second in the Atlantic 10 Championship, where they reached the semifinals for the second time in program history.