The College of Staten Island men’s tennis team got their 2018 campaign off of the right foot this past weekend, and now they will look to start strong in CUNYAC play as they get set to take on John Jay College at the U.S. Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows this afternoon at 4:30pm. It will be the CUNYAC opener for both teams and both sides roll in with identical 1-0 records.
CSI vs. JOHN JAY COLLEGE
Matchup: College of Staten Island (1-0, 0-0 CUNYAC) vs. John Jay College (1-0, 0-0 CUNYAC)
Where: USTA National Tennis Center, Flushing Meadow – Corona Park, Flushing, NY 11368
All-Time Series: CSI leads, 25-10
Last Meeting: April 28, 2017 – CSI won 5-0
Players to Watch (CSI): A trio of Dolphins scored wins in both singles and doubles this past weekend against Rutgers – Newark and will look to stay strong in this one. Raymond Hwang won in the No. 3 position in singles and scored a win in doubles as well. The former CUNYAC All-Star earned CUNYAC Player of the Week honors as well and will look top continue the trend. Alex Tsui is the other veteran player who won a pair on Saturday, taking No. 5 Singles and a gritty No. 3 Doubles flight as well. Newcomer David Luo was able to register a win at No. 4 and teamed with Hwang at No. 2 Doubles to score a win there as well. Matthew Vesci and Andrew Adia sit atop the Dolphins lineup and have had success in the past against the Bloodhounds, look for then to team at No. 1 Doubles.
Players to Watch (JJC): Oleh Mir had a sensational start to 2018 and was atop the roster winning 10-8 in singles against Sarah Lawrence College and he paired with Sean Kim to garner a win at No. 1 Doubles as well. John Jay, like CSI is also very strong at the bottom of the lineup as they took Nos. 4-6 Singles against SLC, including wins by Kim, Jowel Ahmed and Mauricio Ramos. Ahmed paired with Kevin LaTorre to score a big 6-0 win in No. 3 Doubles. Look for that part of the order to help the Bloodhounds try and stay undefeated so far this year
News & Notes: The Dolphins have had the better of it in the series of late, winning six of the previous seven meetings dating back to 2013. This includes a 5-0 win last year as part of CUNYAC Quarterfinal Postseason play. That followed up an 8-1 win over JJC during the regular season as well. Despite the final 5-0 score in the playoffs last year, John Jay was competitive, and players like Ahmed and Ramos were holding leads in their singles matches at the time CSI clinched it. Despite their great record in the series, CSI is only 6-5 against JJC all-time when playing off of Staten Island. John Jay’s last win in the series came when the teams met in Wayne, NJ, for a JJC home game, a 5-4 Bloodhounds victory in 2016.
