NEWARK, N.J. - The Monmouth University men's tennis team fell at New Jersey Institute of Technology, 7-0, Friday night at the Naimoli Family Athletic and Recreation Facility in the spring opener for the Blue and White. Playing in their first dual match of the season, the Hawks fall to 0-1 on the year, while the Highlanders improve to 4-0 on the season.
Friday's match also marked the debut of Monmouth's new head coach Cory Hubbard, who took over the program in early January. "This year is all about establishing attitude and learning how to compete and play with energy," stated Hubbard following the match. "I thought our guys fought hard and took a step in the right direction. We have a long way to go to get the program where I want it to be, but we are working extremely hard and developing the right attitude."
The Highlanders swept the doubles point, before sophomore Freddy Marcinkowski (Sparta, N.J. Sparta) nearly scored a singles win but ultimately fell, 7-6, 6-2. Freshmen Erik Pierce (Barrington, R.I./Barrington) and Jason Prezant (Montvale, N.J./Pascack Hills) both dropped 6-3, 6-4 decisions at third and fourth singles, respectively.
The Hawks hit the court again on February 16th as it travels to Bronxville, N.Y. to take on Concordia at 1:30 p.m.
NJIT 7, Monmouth 0
Singles competition
1. ALBAN, Andres (NJIT) def. MARCINKOWSKI, FREDDY (MU-M) 7-6, 6-2
2. SCHULTZ, Markus (NJIT) def. BEKHIET, Ramy (MU-M) 6-3, 6-2
3. ROUSAR, Petr (NJIT) def. ROTHSTEIN, Jason (MU-M) 6-2, 6-4
4. ARTURSSON, Erik (NJIT) def. PIERCE, Eric (MU-M) 6-3, 6-4
5. FELICH, Jack (NJIT) def. PREZANT, Jason (MU-M) 6-3, 6-4
6. CROAD, Fraser (NJIT) def. TALAFOUS, Joe (MU-M) 6-2, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. ARTURSSON, Erik/ROUSAR, Petr (NJIT) def. MARCINKOWSKI, FREDDY/ROTHSTEIN, Jason (MU-M) 8-3
2. ALBAN, Andres/SCHULTZ, Markus (NJIT) def. BEKHIET, Ramy/PREZANT, Jason (MU-M) 8-4
3. FELICH, Jack/NORREGAARD, Holger (NJIT) def. PIERCE, Eric/TALAFOUS, Joe (MU-M) 8-1
