PRINCETON, N.J. – The Monmouth University men's tennis team dropped a pair of non-conference matches last weekend, falling to Buffalo, 4-1, on Saturday before getting downed by No. 23 Princeton, 5-0, on Sunday afternoon. Both contests were played in Jadwin Gym on Princeton's campus.
On neutral ground against the Bulls, the Hawks (4-5) came-from-behind to steal the doubles point for the early 1-0 advantage. After the No. 2 squad fell 6-1, the Blue and White's No. 1 team of Victor Pugliese (Boulogne, France/CNED [San Diego]) and Przemyslaw Filipek (Bedzin, Poland/Second Lo [Silesia]) earned a 6-3 win over Jonathan Hannestad and Sergio Arevalilo. Christian Vieira (Houston, Texas/Memorial) along with Vidit Vaghela (Ahmedabad, India/A.G. High School [H.L. College of Commerce]) clinched the point by holding off Sebastian Ionescu and Pablo Alvarez, 6-4.
Despite Pugliese and Vidit holding leads at No. 1 and No. 4 singles, respectively, the Bulls earned victories in the four other singles matches to improve to 8-3 overall.
"Once again our guys came out against a very good team and played with tremendous energy to win the doubles point,” commented head coach Cory Hubbard. “Buffalo did a good job grabbing the momentum back and winning four sets in singles to put us against the ropes. It's disappointing because we have done very well in doubles against the toughest teams on our schedule, but haven't been able to capitalize in singles."
The next afternoon, the Tigers took the doubles point, earning wins at No. 2 and No. 3 before earning four singles victories to claim the 5-0 win despite Pugliese and Luke Adamus (Mosman, New South Wales/Redlands) both earning first set wins and leading in the second set at No. 1 and No. 6, respectively.
"This was going to be a big-time challenge for our guys playing a top-25 team on the road,” added Hubbard. “I was proud of how our guys competed and we made them work for it. Even though we were shutout, the matches were close and Victor and Luke were both up a set.”
Hubbard continued, “We have played a tough schedule and been able to hang with several nationally ranked teams, but we just haven't been able to break through and win the big points. The good news is we are getting the opportunities now we just need to convert under pressure."
Monmouth returns to action next Saturday when it travels to Columbia for a match with its third Ivy League foe of the season. First serve from New York is slated for 2:00 p.m.
-@MUMTennis-
Tennis Match Results
Monmouth vs Buffalo
Feb 28, 2015 at Princeton, N.J.
Buffalo 4, Monmouth 1
Singles competition
1. David, Damien (BUFFALO) vs. Pugliese, Victor (MU-M) 4-6, 4-1, unfinished
2. Alvarez, Pablo (BUFFALO) def. Filipek, Przemyslaw (MU-M) 6-3, 6-3
3. Ionescu, Sebastian (BUFFALO) def. Gomez Estrada, Ale (MU-M) 6-1, 6-3
4. Arevalilo, Sergio (BUFFALO) vs. Vaghela, Vidit (MU-M) 2-6, 3-3, unfinished
5. Hannestad, Jonathan (BUFFALO) def. Kumthonkittikul, Bee (MU-M) 6-0, 6-4
6. Mehta, Akhil (BUFFALO) def. Vieira, Christian (MU-M) 6-1, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Pugliese, Victor/Filipek, Przemyslaw (MU-M) def. Hannestad, Jonathan/Arevalilo, Sergio (BUFFALO) 6-3
2. David, Damien/Mehta, Akhil (BUFFALO) def. Gomez Estrada, Ale/Ginzburg, Daniil (MU-M) 6-1
3. Vieira, Christian/Vaghela, Vidit (MU-M) def. Ionescu, Sebastian/Alvarez, Pablo (BUFFALO) 6-4
Match Notes:
Monmouth 4-4
Buffalo 8-3
Tennis Match Results
Monmouth vs Princeton
Mar. 01, 2015 at Princeton, N.J.
#23 Princeton 5, Monmouth 0
Singles competition
1. Colautti, Thomas (PRIN) vs. Pugliese, Victor (MU-M) 6-7, 0-3, unfinished
2. Day, Alexander (PRIN) def. Filipek, Przemyslaw (MU-M) 6-3, 7-5
3. Kaiser, Kial (PRIN) def. Kumthonkittikul, Bee (MU-M) 6-2, 6-4
4. Gamble, Luke (PRIN) def. Vaghela, Vidit (MU-M) 7-5, 6-0
5. Vives, Diego (PRIN) def. Gomez Estrada, Ale (MU-M) 6-3, 6-3
6. Richardson, Dan (PRIN) vs. Adamus, Luke (MU-M) 6-7, 1-2, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. Gamble, Luke/Vives, Diego (PRIN) vs. Filipek, Przemyslaw/Pugliese, Victor (MU-M) 5-4, unfinished
2. Day, Alexander/Tso, Ben (PRIN) def. Vaghela, Vidit/Vieira, Christian (MU-M) 6-4
3. Colautti, Thomas/Kaiser, Kial (PRIN) def. Adamus, Luke/Gomez Estrada, Ale (MU-M) 6-2
Match Notes:
Monmouth 4-5
Princeton 11-3; National ranking #23
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (5,4,3,2)
