St. John’s tennis faced both UConn
and Clemson over the weekend, looking
to extend their winning streak to nine.
The match-up against UConn was the
last Big East game for the team prior to
the Big East Tournament and St. John’s
took full advantage of the situation,
defeating the Huskies 6-1. The Red
Storm dominated in every category, and
were victorious in all but one of the eight
matches that were played. The lone loss
came in fifth singles when Connecticut’s
Tom Cook edged Claudio Halim (7-6, 5-
7, 10-8). Senior captain Louis
Desmarteaux (first), Artem Vlasenko
(second), Martin Kosut (third), Jordan
Talbot (fourth), and Derek Wallensteen
(sixth) all posted victories in singles
competition.
In doubles action, the team of
Desmarteaux and Kosut narrowly beat
Connecticuts Joe Goldstein and Ben
Schueler (8-7). Wallensteen and Talbot
beat UConn’s Joel Gamoran and Michael
Bobitski 8-5.
With the eight-game streak in hand,
St. John’s traveled to Chestnut Hill,
Massachusetts for a match against
nationally ranked Clemson University.
Despite its best efforts, the team was
unable to secure its ninth win in a row as
it narrowly lost to the Tigers by the final
score of 4-3.
St. John’s won the doubles point with
wins in second and third doubles. In second
doubles, Desmarteaux and Kosut
defeated Clemson’s Carlos Alvarex and
Rok Bizjak, (8-4). In third doubles,
Halim and Vlasenko got past Ike Belk
and Kevin Fleck, (8-4). In singles, only
Vlasenko (second), and Martin Kosut
(fifth) were able to earn victories.
St. John’s returns to action again
when it heads into the Big East
Tournament, scheduled for Friday at the
University of Southern Florida’s Varsity
Courts.
Women’s Tennis
The women’s tennis team completed
the regular season with a loss to
Cincinnati Monday by a score of 5-1.
St. John’s dropped to an overall
record of 7-9 on the season, however
their 4-5 conference record was strong
enough to propel them into the Big East
Tournament.
The Red Storm got their only point
of the match in the number-one singles
spot, where Nataly Tumsevica defeated
Cincinnati’s Hannah Hinton 6-1, 6-2.
The rest of the contest was downhill
for the Johnnies as the Bearcats rattled
off wins in the remaining five games for
the victory.
Gabija Gasiunaite gave Cincinnatis
Jenny Rowen all that she could handle,
but Rowen was ultimately successful,
winning by a score of 6-4, 7-5.
Connecticut 4, St. John’s 3
St. John’s was handed its first loss on
home court Friday, falling to UConn by a
score of 4-3.
The Red Storm had the advantage in
the doubles match, obtaining two out of the
three available points. Alison Adamski and
Nataly Tumsevica were dominant, posting
a score of 8-1, while Kelley LoRusso and
Alli Campitiello also posted a convincing
8-3 victory to notch the second point.
The Johnnies weren’t as effective in
singles, only registering points from
Tumsevica (6-4, 6-0) and Adamski (6-1,
6-1) for the game.
The Red Storm was manhandled in the
remaining four matches, failing to pick up
another point and allowing Connecticut to
win their firt game in history on the road at
St. John’s.
