The St. John’s men’s tennis team went down in a match against their city rival Columbia University. Though it was a hard fought match by the Red Storm, they fell 4-0.

Being the first day of the ECAC Invitational Championship, it seems the Red Storm was just a little out of it as Columbia got out to a quick start and picked up four points in doubles. Paul Ratchford and Mart Moore of Columbia took a hard fought victory over the Red Storm’s Louis Desmarteaux and Alex Svetlakov at the No. 1 spot.

At the No. 2 doubles position, the Storm’s Tom Green and Derek Wallensteen also lost in a hard fought battle to Columbia’s Justin Chow and Jared Drucker by a score of 9-8. At the No. 3 position, Mark Clemente and Jonathan Wong of Columbia beat Jordan Talbot and Claudio Halim by a score of 8-1.

Victories continued to come for Columbia in singles play with Columbia’s Drucker defeating the Red Storm’s Green at the No. 2 position, while Wong also defeated Wallensteen at the No. 4 Spot. At No. 6 singles, Columbia’s Jon Chan grabbed a 6-1 victory over Claudio Halim, which ended the night for St. John’s on a bad note.