Lehigh University
Fairleigh Dickinson
Lehigh edged by FDU in home opener, 4-3
1/31/2010 7:30:00 PM | Men's Tennis
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Despite winning the doubles point, Lehigh could not hold onto an early lead in its home opener as visiting Fairleigh Dickinson rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Mountain Hawks Sunday inside the Lewis Tennis Center. Junior Troy List was a winner in both doubles and singles on a day where many matches were tightly contested the Knights picked up wins at second through fifth singles to pick up the win. With the loss Lehigh falls to 0-2 on the spring season.
“You never know what to expect against a team like FDU,” said Lehigh head coach Dave Shook. “They bring in a lot of foreign players who are older, bigger, faster and stronger. I’m extremely pleased that we won the doubles point because it put us in a position to win the match. I’m pleased that our freshmen Savran and Krentz were able to get good experience out there. They still need to learn how to win, but as the season progresses they will help us win some matches.”
All three doubles contests were decided by two games. The Mountain Hawks picked up a win at No. 2 doubles as sophomore Leland Richardson and freshman Matt Savran downed Sven Sjoerds and Andrew Denny 8-6. The Knights picked up a win at No.3 doubles, but List and classmate Collin Laffey held off Peter Skvarka and Marco Jemersic 9-7 at No. 1 doubles to give Lehigh an early 1-0 lead.
In singles play, Fairleigh Dickinson pulled even when Skvarka beat Richardson at No. 2 singles, and then took the lead when Yuri Gricheno downed Laffey in straight sets at No. 3 singles.
List rallied from a set down to defeat Dom Hemy 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 at No. 1 singles to tie the match at two, but the Knights won a pair of three set matches at fourth and fifth singles to clinch the match. Sjoerds rallied from a set down to beat Savran at No. 4 singles and at No. 5 singles Denny dropped the first set to sophomore Ryan Krueger but rallied to win the next two.
At No. 6 singles, freshman Andrew Krentz earned his first varsity point with a win over Mark Hemy.
The Mountain Hawks will return to action Friday night when they travel to Providence, R.I. to meet the Brown Bears at 7 p.m.
Fairleigh Dickinson 4, Lehigh 3
Doubles
1. List/Laffey (LU) def. Skvarka/Jemersic (FDU) 9-7
2. Richardson/Savran (LU) def. Sjoerds/Denny (FDU) 8-6
3. D. Hemy/Gricheno (FDU) def. Pacheco/Silbert (LU) 8-6
Singles
1. Troy List (LU) def. Dom Hemy (FDU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-0
2. Peter Skvarka (FDU) def. Leland Richardson (LU) 6-2, 6-2
3. Yuri Gricheno (FDU) def. Collin Laffey (LU) 7-6, 6-3
4. Sven Sjoerds (FDU) def. Matt Savran (LU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
5. Andrew Denny (FDU) def. Ryan Krueger (LU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
6. Andrew Krentz (LU) def. Mark Hemy (FDU) 6-7, 6-2,10-7
Lehigh - Fairleigh Dickinson Post-Match Extra
