NEW HAVEN, CT – The Monmouth University men's tennis team opened the 2016 spring season this past weekend at Yale University's Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center. The Hawks battled Boston College, Buffalo and Yale, but fell in all three matches. Junior Vidit Vaghela (Ahmedabad, India/A.G. High School [H.L. College of Commerce]) won a pair of singles matches on the weekend, including one at No. 2 after being elevated to the position in the Hawks' final match against Yale.

Junior Przemyslaw Filipek (Bedzin, Poland/Second Lo [Silesia]) and freshmen Alberto Guiffrida and Nicola Pipoli also earned one singles victory apiece on the weekend.

“My comment to the guys when we were coming back was that we went there as individual players and we're coming back as a team,” said Assistant Coach Michael Schwartz. “I thought that we really jelled as a team after the experiences. I thought that we were progressively getting better. By the third match at Yale, which was the toughest match, we actually were close to beating them. 5-2 against Yale is pretty impressive and we're ready for next week when we play UConn and Army.”

The Hawks opened the weekend with a 4-2 loss to Boston College on Saturday. The Eagles took all three doubles flights, before Filipek and Vaghela emerged with singles wins at No. 1 and No. 3. Filipek made quick work of Hank Workman, 6-2, 6-0, at No. 1, while Vaghela also won in straight sets over Kyle Childree, 6-2, 6-4. But the Eagles clinched the match with singles wins at Nos. 2, 5 and 6. Pipoli's match against Kent Mukai at No. 4 was halted after he evened the score with a 7-6 victory in the second set after falling by the same score in the first set.

Monmouth and Buffalo played singles first in their next match, with the Bulls taking four of the first five matches to finish, clinching the victory. Guiffrida defeated Noah Hajdu-Andersson, 6-3, 6-3, but the Bulls took wins in the top three flights, as well as No. 5 to clinch the match. Pipoli's match at No. 4 against Sergio Arevalillo was once again halted after the freshman bounced back from a 7-6 setback in the first set to win the second, 6-3. With the match already decided, doubles was not contested.

The Hawks had arguably their best performance of the weekend against Yale, falling 5-2 on Sunday. The Bulldogs took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3. Vaghela's strong play was rewarded with a bump up in the line-up from No. 3 to No. 2 and, after falling by a 6-1 score in the first set, the junior took the match with 6-4 and 7-5 victories in the second and third sets, respectively, over Martin Svenning. Given time to complete a three-set match for the first time on the weekend, Pipoli defeated Dennis Wang, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, at No. 4. But the Bulldogs took wins at Nos. 1, 3, 5 and 6 to secure the match victory.

The Hawks return to action Saturday, when they travel to West Point, NY, to take on the University of Connecticut and Army West Point. The Connecticut match is slated to begin at 9 a.m., before the Hawks take on the Black Knights at 4 p.m.


Boston College 4, Monmouth 2

 Singles competition
1. Filipek, Przemyslaw (MU-M) def. Workman, Hank (BC-M) 6-2, 6-0
2. McNulty, Aidan (BC-M) def. Gomez Estrada, Ale (MU-M) 7-6, 3-6, 7-5
3. Vaghela, Vidit (MU-M) def. Childree, Kyle (BC-M) 6-2, 6-4
4. Mukai, Kent (BC-M) vs. Pipoli, Nicola (MU-M) 7-6, 6-7, unfinished
5. Thirouin, Alexandre (BC-M) def. Guiffrida, Alberto (MU-M) 6-3, 7-5
6. Turner, Will (BC-M) def. Vieira, Christian (MU-M) 6-2, 6-2

 Doubles competition
1. Workman, Hank/Childree, Kyle (BC-M) def. Filipek, Przemyslaw/Vaghela, Vidit (MU-M) 6-1
2. McNulty, Aidan/Thirouin, Alexandre (BC-M) def. Gomez Estrada, Ale/Bekhiet, Ramy (MU-M) 6-2
3. Melvin, Jeffrey/Mukai, Kent (BC-M) def. Guiffrida, Alberto/Pipoli, Nicola (MU-M) 6-3


Buffalo 4, Monmouth 1

 Singles competition
1. Hromic, Amar (BUFF-M) def. Filipek, Przemyslaw (MU-M) 6-2, 7-6
2. Alvarez, Pablo (BUFF-M) def. Gomez Estrada, Ale (MU-M) 6-2, 6-2
3. Nittolo, Ethan (BUFF-M) def. Vaghela, Vidit (MU-M) 6-3, 7-5
4. Arevalillo, Sergio (BUFF-M) vs. Pipoli, Nicola (MU-M) 7-6, 6-3, unfinished
5. Mehta, Akhil (BUFF-M) def. Bekhiet, Ramy (MU-M) 7-6, 6-4
6. Guiffrida, Alberto (MU-M) def. Hajdu-Andersson, Noa (BUFF-M) 6-3, 6-3

 Doubles competition
1. Hromic, Amar/Alvarez, Pablo (BUFF-M) vs. Filipek, Przemyslaw/Vaghela, Vidit (MU-M) unfinished
2. Mehta, Akhil/Hajdu-Andersson, Noa (BUFF-M) vs. Gomez Estrada, Ale/Bekhiet, Ramy (MU-M) unfinished
3. Arevalillo, Sergio/Nittolo, Ethan (BUFF-M) vs. Vieira, Christian/Pipoli, Nicola (MU-M) unfinished


Yale 5, Monmouth 2

 Singles competition
1. Wang, Ziqi (YALE-M) def. Filipek, Przemyslaw (MU-M) 6-4, 6-4
2. Vaghela, Vidit (MU-M) def. Svenning, Martin (YALE-M) 1-6, 6-4, 7-5
3. Hagermoser, Alex (YALE-M) def. Gomez Estrada, Ale (MU-M) 6-3, 6-4
4. Pipoli, Nicola (MU-M) def. Wang, Dennis (YALE-M) 6-3, 5-7, 7-5
5. Andrienko, Fedor (YALE-M) def. Bekhiet, Ramy (MU-M) 6-2, 6-1
6. Brown, Nathan (YALE-M) def. Guiffrida, Alberto (MU-M) 6-3, 7-6

 Doubles competition
1. Andrienko, Fedor/Doehler, Stefan (YALE-M) vs. Filipek, Przemyslaw/Vaghela, Vidit (MU-M) unfinished
2. Svenning, Martin/Wang, Ziqi (YALE-M) def. Gomez Estrada, Ale/Bekhiet, Ramy (MU-M) 6-2
3. Hagermoser, Alex/Brown, Jason (YALE-M) def. Vieira, Christian/Pipoli, Nicola (MU-M) 6-0