The St. John’s men’s tennis team finished up a historic 16-win season on April 18, with a dominant 6-1 victory over local rival Stony Brook.
St. John’s has now won eight straight matches heading into the conference tournament.
“It’s been a great season so far, but we’re not done yet,” said head coach Eric Rebhuhn. “We’re proud of our team for what its accomplished. We’ve established ourselves as one of the best teams in the East, and we’re looking forward to the Big East Tournament.”
St. John’s clinched the doubles point for the 12th time this season against Stony Brook, as the pair of Milo Hauk and Gustav Kallen cruised to an 8-2 victory before Stefan Bojic and Mike Lampa won 8-3 at the No. 2 position.
Though the No. 3 pairing of Matty Najfeld and Mischa Koran lost its match 8-4, St. John’s still came away with the doubles point.
In the singles competition, Mike Lampa, last week’s Big East Male Tennis Player of the Week, improved to 16-6 on the season as he defeated Roope Kailaheimo in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1, in the No. 3 match.
Stony Brook tried to get back into the match, as St. Johns’ Stefan Bojic dropped a straight-set match to Nikita Fomin, 6-0, 6-3, to give Stony Brook their first point of the day in the No. 1 match.
It would turn out to be their only point, as Najfeld went on to win in straight sets, and freshmen Mischa Koran and Gustav Kallen won two three-set matches to close out the victory for St. John’s.
The Red Storm improved to 16-6 on the season, while Stony Brook dropped to 8-10.
St. John’s reached at least 15 wins for the fifth time in program history as it improved to 16-6 for the season, the most under Rebhuhn. They last reached 15 wins in 1992.
The Red Storm will now look ahead to the Big East Championships, which will take place in Notre Dame, Ind. from April 28 to May 1. They will find out where they stand in the nine-team field on Monday, April 25, when the tournament’s seeding is released.
The Red Storm will try for a better result than last year, when six-seeded St. John’s lost to third-seeded South Florida in the first round of the tournament.
