Results
Staten Island, NY - The Wagner men's tennis team earned a hard-fought, 4-3 victory over the visiting Hofstra University Pride on Saturday afternoon at the Wagner Tennis Courts.
With the win, the Seahawks improve to 3-0 on the season while the Pride falls to 0-1. This afternoon's victory marked Wagner's first win over Hofstra in the last six matches (1-5).
"This afternoon was a team victory," commented head coach
Jason Sinkoff. "Everyone elevated their game to a higher level today."
The Green & White secured the doubles point after taking two-of-three matches. Junior
Charlton Boyd (Shreveport, LA/Loyola College Prep) and sophomore
Ilya Kneppelhout (Woubrugge, Netherlands/Scala College Secondary School) picked up their second win of the season and 16th as a tandem, shutting out Guilherme Ferneda and Zachary Chang, 6-0.
Hofstra evened doubles' play at No. 2 when Marcus Smith and Jan Leithner defeated sophomore
Eric Poland (Fort Meyers/FL/Bishop Verot) and freshman
Hans Ohrner (Margate, FL/Coral Springs Christian Academy), 6-3.
The Seahawks clinched the doubles points as sophomores
Anatoliy Lashkul (Kiev, Ukraine/High School #78) and
Dale Sandy (Durban, South Africa/Kersney College Secondary School) edged out Niko Vulinovich and Corentin Haener, 6-4..
As singles play commenced, Hofstra secured a victory at No. 3 as Leithner defeated Kneppelhout, 6-1; 6-0 and Haener followed up with a 6-1; 6-4 triumph at No. 4 over Poland.
Boyd improved to 6-1 in singles play on the season and, in the process, earned his 40th career singles victory, winning 6-3; 6-0 over Ferneda to even the overall match at 2-2.
Ohrner picked up his sixth singles win of the season, tying Boyd, as he defeated Chang, 6-4; 6-2 to give Wagner a 3-2 lead.
After dropping the first set 4-6 to Vulinovich in No. 2 singles, Sandy was able to earn a 6-4 victory in set #2 to set up a deciding third set. In a back-and-forth, highly contested match, Sandy was able to outlast Vulinovich, winning 10-8 to clinch the match for the Seahawks.
"Dale played the pressure points very well today," said Sinkoff. He was in a similar situation against Hofstra last year, with the match tied 3-3. A year ago, he wasn't able to pick up the win but today, he kept composure and was able to clinch the match for us."
Due to inclement weather predicted in the forecast for Sunday, the Green & White will take on the Saint Peter's University Peacocks at 10:30 a.m., instead of its originally scheduled match which was set for 1:00 p.m.
Follow Wagner Athletics on Facebook (facebook.com/WagnerAthletics), Twitter (@wagnerathletics), Instagram (@wagnerathletics) and YouTube (@WagnerSeahawks) for all the latest news and updates on the athletic department. Follow Wagner Men's Tennis on Twitter (@Wagner_MTennis)
for news and information about the team.
