Pictured Above: Sophomore Charlton Boyd (Dave Saffran)Results Jersey City, NJ –The Wagner men's tennis team commenced the fall season with a 5-2 triumph over Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) foe, Saint Peter's, on Friday afternoon.
This afternoon's match was the season opener for both squads as the Seahawks improve to 1-0 while the Peacocks fall to 0-1. Today's victory marked the first career coaching win for first-year head coach,
Jason Sinkoff and marks the second straight year in which Wagner has won the season-opening match.
"Before the start of the match, I talked with the guys about the significance of today, being the 14th anniversary of September 11, 2001 and reminded them that it is an honor and a privilege to be able to compete at the Division I level and to represent Wagner College," commented Sinkoff. "We got off to a great start in doubles and kept up the momentum in singles play as Saint Peter's is a very gritty team. Our guys fought hard and came out victorious."
Wagner swept all three doubles matches to take the first overall point of the match. All four newcomers on Sinkoff's roster garnered their first collegiate action.
Eric Poland (Fort Meyers, FL/Bishop Verot) was paired up with another Sunshine State native in sophomore
Jakob Mostyn-Kolb (Melbourne, FL/Melbourne) as they took an 8-4 decision against Daniil Ivanov and Andres Sebastian-Rojas in No. 1 doubles play.
Fellow newcomers
Lucas Lu (Boca Raton, FL/Boca Prep International School) and
Dale Sandy (Durban, South Africa/Kersney College Secondary School) were able to oust the duo of Jorge Rodriguez and Jonathan Paredes, 8-3, out of the Flight No. 2 doubles spot, which ultimately clinched the doubles point for the Green & White.
Freshman
Ilya Kneppelhout (Woubrugge, Netherlands/Scala College Secondary School) was paired with last season's All-Northeast Conference (NEC) Rookie Team selection, sophomore
Charlton Boyd (Shreveport, LA/Loyola College Prep). Kneppelhout and Boyd shutout the tandem of Douglas Nover and Gabe Russotto, 8-0 in No. 3 doubles action.
"One of my favorite parts about today's contest was watching our incoming freshmen compete," added Sinkoff. "All four players competed in both singles and doubles play and showed a lot of tenacity."
The Seahawks jumped out to a 3-0 match lead before Saint Peter's Ivanov was able to secure a 6-0; 6-1 victory over Lu in No. 1 singles. For the second time of the afternoon, Boyd clinched the win for the Seahawks as he defeated Sebastian-Rojas, 6-3; 6-4 in a thrilling No. 4 singles match.
With the victory, Boyd earned his 19th career singles victory while fellow classmate
Allen Wang (Clovis, CA/Buchanan) defeated Russotto, 6-1; 6-0 for his 11th career singles win and improves to 2-0 out of the No. 6 position in his career.
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