Men lose, women win this weekend
After narrowly up-ending William & Mary on Saturday, the St. John’s men’s tennis team was defeated by Penn State 7-0 in Happy Valley on Sunday.
Sophomores R.J. Del Nunzio, Lucas Hejhal and freshman Robert Livi each lost their singles matches at the No. 1, 3 and 4 slots, respectively.
Saturday hero Vaidik Munshaw couldn’t swing any momentum as he lost in straight sets to the Nittany Lion’s Michael Rielly, 6-5 (3), 5-6 (2), 10-2.
St. John’s (1-1, 0-0) will welcome DePaul to Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Jan. 31 at noon.
While the men struggled, the women shined against Fairfield, 5-2, in the team’s season opener.
This year’s season opener was the first at home for the ladies since the 2004-05 season.
Senior Yanita Arnaudova and junior Nastya Polyakova each had straight set victories at the No. 5 and No. 2 spots, respectively.
Freshman Anna Morozova won the clinching match with a 7-5, 6-0 win over Stag’s Allison Raddle.
This is the second straight year that the Red Storm (1-0, 0-0 Big East) beat Fairfield. St. John’s swept Fairfield 7-0 on Jan. 26, 2013. This is also the first time the Red Storm won their season opener since 2006 when they beat Binghamton, 6-1.
The ladies will travel to Princeton on Saturday, Feb. 1 when they take on the Tigers at noon.
Torch Sports will be hit with a heavy dose of enthusiasm as Jon takes over as Sports Editor. He’ll be making the transition from radio to print, as he’s been heavily involved with WSJU Radio the past couple of years. His over exuberance for St. John’s athletics will guarantee that no game, press conference or big story goes uncovered. Despite his lack of experience at the Torch, his admirable work ethic and willingness to learn makes him the ideal candidate to take the reigns of Torch Sports.
— Mitchell Petit-Frere
Managing Editor
