The College of Staten Island men’s tennis squad won for the eighth straight outing, scoring a 6-3 win over John Jay College in CUNYAC play on Thursday at the National Tennis Center in Flushing, New York. The win lifted CSI to a record of 13-4 overall and 6-1 in conference play, while the Bloodhounds fell to 4-5, 4-1 respectively.
CSI got off to a healthy start by taking a 2-1 lead after doubles. Masaru Takaki and Georgio Dano teamed up at the No. 2 position, and scored a decisive, 8-2, win over JJC’s team of Andreas Pantaloukas and Stephen Walz. One flight over at No. 3, Joseph Taranto and Bobby Hargraves worked hard for an 8-4 win over Kelvin Rodriguez and Ian Wildman. CSI nearly had a doubles sweep, but the John Jay tandem of Dong Shao and Erkut Cakmak were too much for CSI’s Nick Zikos and Patrick Thomas, 8-6.
By virtue of doubles, CSI needed only a split of singles to pull out the victory, and the Dolphins were up to the challenge. Dano breezed through a 6-0, 6-0 match at No. 6 and Taranto followed suit in the No. 4 position, beating Pantaloukas, 6-1, 6-2. All of the other flights came down to third sets.
At No. 1, Shao took out Zikos by a count of 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, keeping John Jay in the mix, and down at No. 5, Rodriguez powered to beat CSI’s Gary Ambartsumov, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2. CSI, however, responded to the call and manage to sweep the remaining matches. Thomas won a marathon over Cakmak, 4-6, 7-6 (7-6), 6-1 at No. 2, and at No. 3, Takaki got by Walz, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, to earn CSI their fifth and sixth points of the match to insure victory.
CSI will be back in action today, taking on City College of New York at 12 Noon at Crotona Park in the Bronx, New York, in their CUNYAC finale.
