ResultsWest Point, NY – The Wagner men's tennis squad opened up the spring season with a 5-0 setback against Patriot League members, the Army Black Knights on Friday evening.
With the loss, Wagner stands at 5-2 overall while Army improves to 2-0 on the season, after also defeating the UConn Huskies, 5-2, earlier this morning at the Lichtenberg Tennis Center.
"It is always tough to lose, but our guys competed extremely well this evening," said first-year head coach
Jason Sinkoff. "Army is a strong team, and we were able to stay with them every step of the way. We have a quick turnaround and play another strong team in Temple on Sunday. We know what we have to focus on to turn things around in our next match as we look forward to the challenge."
Wagner was able to manage a victory in No. 3 doubles as the pairing of freshman
Ilya Kneppelhout (Woubrugge, Netherlands/Scala College Secondary School) and sophomore
Charlton Boyd (Shreveport, LA/Loyola College Prep) earned at 6-1 triumph over the tandem of Grant Patterson and Joey Hatala.
Army took No. 1 and No. 2 doubles by identical 6-4 decisions in securing the matches overall first point.
In singles competition, freshman
Dale Sandy (Durban, South Africa/Kersney College Secondary School) dropped a 6-2; 6-2 decision at No. 1 singles to David Mitchell. In No. 2 singles action, fellow classmate
Lucas Lu (Boca Raton, FL/Boca Prep International School) was defeated by Harrison McCormick, 6-1; 6-2.
In No. 3 singles play, newcomer Kneppelhout was edged by Austin McCasin, 6-2; 6-4. In the final match of the evening, Patterson was able to outlast sophomore
Allen Wang (Clovis, CA/Buchanan) 6-2; 6-2.
No. 4 and No. 5 singles action, which featured Wagner freshman
Eric Poland (Fort Meyers, FL/Bishop Verot) and Boyd, respectively, went unfinished, with the match being halted in No. 4 as Poland was up 7-6 (5), 2-1. "Eric [Poland] showed great composure in his singles match today," added Sinkoff. "He started down in the first set 4-1 and battled back to take the first set in a tiebreaker 7-6."
Wagner returns to the court on Sunday, February 7 as they travel to Philadelphia, PA on to tangle with American Athletic Conference member, Temple University. The match will commence at 6:30 pm.
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