Madison, NJ | In a match pitting two very evenly teams against one-another, it was the Dolphins that prevailed, as the College of Staten Island netters were able to slide by the FDU-Florham Devils, 5-4, as part of non-conference play at FDU’s courts. With the win, CSI lifted their overall record to 9-2, while the Devils fell to 12-7.
Playing without their normal No. 1-2 player Matthew Vesci, CSI went with a different lineup in this one, including Doubles play, but CSI was still able to register a pair of wins in what ultimately made up the difference. Raymond Hwang and Lesly DeCastro, who normally play in the No. 3 spot for CSI were bumped up to the No. 2 spot and they seemingly did not lose a beat, as they stormed past FDU’s Brendon Urbano and Tyler Schacher, 8-3. The other two Doubles farings were tight. At No. 3, FDU got even, when the duo of JT Murray and John Bricker, were able to weather the pursuit of Tao Lin and Matthew Kotlyar, as they were victorious, 8-5.
In the No. 1 spot, play was back and forth between CSI’s Ivi Selenica and Alex Tsui and FDU’s duo of Rich Bennett and Kevin Weller. CSI was able to break service in the one and that is all it took, as they won the flight, 8-6.
From there, CSI only needed a split of the six Doubles flights and that’s exactly what they got spread around the courts and the lineup. Hwang at No. 2 was able to take a 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, winner in the No.2 flight, while DeCastro at No. 5 got through FDU’s Schacher , 6-1, 6-4, at No. 5. FDU returned the favor, however, winning at No. 3 with John Bricker over Alex Tsui, 7-5, 6-2, and then at No. 4 with Murray toppling Kotlyar, 6-0, 6-2. Down at No. 6, FDU got even with a win by Michael LaNeve over CSI.s Lin, 6-2, 6-0.
That focused the attention on the No.1 Singles match between CSI’s Selenica and FDU’s Bennett. Selenica looked great in a 6-3 opening set win, but Bennett responded quickly with a 6-2 set to knot it up. Playing in a 10-point tiebreaker, it was Selenica that made the fewer mistakes en route to a 10-5 win, putting CSi over the top for the 5-4 overall win.
CSI now officially has just one match to go on the schedule before the CUNYAC Postseason Tournament. They will face off against Sarah Lawrence College tomorrow at 6pm in Bronxville, NY.
