WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – The Monmouth University men's tennis team swept the doubles point before taking four of the six singles matches en route to a 5-2 win over Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference rival Quinnipiac, Saturday afternoon at the MU Tennis Courts. The Blue and White improves to 11-8 overall with its second-consecutive league victory and takes over sole possession of first place in the league standing at 4-0, while the Bobcats fall to 11-8 and 5-1 in league play.
The Hawks jumped out to a 1-0 lead, taking all three doubles matches. Victor Pugliese (Boulogne, France/CNED [San Diego]) and Vidit Vaghela (Ahmedabad, India (A.G. High School [H.L. College of Commerce]) earned a 8-4 win over Jonas Kuwert and Luke Roser, while Ale Gomez Estrada (Guayaquil, Ecuador/PERT) and Ramy Bekhiet (Robbinsville, N.J./Robbinsville) held off Kei Ezaka and Ryoma Haraguchi, 8-6, to clinch the point. Przemyslaw Filipek (Bedzin, Poland/Second Lo [Silesia]) and Christian Vieira (Houston, Texas/Memorial) edged Eric Ambrosio and Willem van Beizen 8-7 at No. 3 to close out doubles play.
Bee Kumthonkittikul (Bangkok, Thailand/Pendleton School) cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 5 singles to stake the Blue and White to a 2-0 lead before Quinnipiac got on the board with a victory at No. 4. Bekhiet responded at No. 6, pulling out a 6-4, 7-6 (1) win to put the Hawks back up by two, 3-1. Gomez Estrada defeated Ambrosio in a three-set affair, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 to clinch the match for Monmouth. Pugliese capped off MU's scoring with a 6-4, 7-5 win at No. 1, to remain unbeaten in MAAC play since joining the Hawks last season.
"I am so proud of how our guys played,” commented head man Cory Hubbard. “We came out and battled in doubles and it was nice to get the point since we had been struggling in doubles. In singles our guys once again got a great start winning a lot of first sets to give us the momentum. Bee's energy was amazing and it was a big point to get us up 2-0. Give QU a lot of credit because their guys played hard and battled back in the second sets and we let the momentum slip a little bit. I thought Ramy did a great job under pressure, coming back and getting the match in straight sets.”
“We still have a lot of tennis left to play the next few days, but I really like where our heads and our hearts are at right now,” added Hubbard. “It was another great atmosphere to play tennis and we have really created a nice home court advantage the last two years so thank you to all those who came to support us.”
Monmouth returns to action on Sunday, April 19th for a doubleheader with Saint Peter's and Rider. The Hawks take on the Peacocks at 1:00 p.m., while first serve against the Broncs is roughly 30 minutes following the conclusion of the first match.
-@MUMtennis-
Tennis Match Results
Quinnipiac vs Monmouth
Apr 18, 2015 at West Long Branch, N.J.
Monmouth 5, Quinnipiac 2
Singles competition
1. Pugliese, Victor (MU-M) def. Kei Ezaka (QUI-MT) 6-4, 7-5
2. Jonas Kuwert (QUI-MT) def. Filipek, Przemyslaw (MU-M) 3-6, 6-1, 2-3, retired
3. Gomez Estrada, Ale (MU-M) def. Eric Ambrosio (QUI-MT) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
4. Julian Rozenstein (QUI-MT) def. Vaghela, Vidit (MU-M) 6-0, 6-2
5. Kumthonkittikul, Bee (MU-M) def. Luke Roser (QUI-MT) 6-1, 6-0
6. Bekhiet, Ramy (MU-M) def. Kyle Alper (QUI-MT) 6-4, 7-6
Doubles competition
1. Pugliese, Victor/Vaghela, Vidit (MU-M) def. Jonas Kuwert/Luke Roser (QUI-MT) 8-4
2. Gomez Estrada, Ale/Bekhiet, Ramy (MU-M) def. Kei Ezaka/Ryoma Haraguchi (QUI-MT) 8-6
3. Filipek, Przemyslaw/Vieira, Christian (MU-M) def. Eric Ambrosio/Willem van Biezen (QUI-MT) 8-7
Match Notes:
Quinnipiac 11-8 (5-1 MAAC)
Monmouth 11-8 (4-0 MAAC)
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (5,4,6,3,2,1)
