Saturday, February 4
Lewis Tennis Center
2:00:00 PM
Lehigh University
4
vs
3
Fairleigh Dickinson
Goldblum's heroics propel Lehigh past FDU for first win
2/5/2012 12:41:00 AM | Men's Tennis
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – In a gritty, tightly-contested affair, the Lehigh men's tennis team picked up its first win of the season, edging Fairleigh Dickinson 4-3 Saturday at the Lewis Tennis Center. Freshman Dan Goldblum grinded out a three-set win over Mark Hemy at No. 6 singles for the decisive point as the Mountain Hawks move to 1-1 on the young season.
Lehigh opened the match by capturing the doubles point, thanks to a tiebreak win by junior Andrew Krentz and sophomore Timur Chernykh over Mark Hemy and Peter Skvarka at No. 3 doubles. The Mountain Hawk duo won the tiebreak 7-5 to win the match 9-8. Lehigh's other doubles win came in an impressive performance by junior Matt Savran and freshman Ben Gilman, who downed Dom Hemy and Yuri Gricheno 8-2 at No. 2 doubles.
The Mountain Hawks continued to look strong in singles play, as Lehigh players won three of the four first sets in the first four singles matches to take to the court. Gilman gave Lehigh a 2-0 lead in the match with a dominant 6-2, 6-1 win over Dom Hemy at No. 4 singles for his first college singles win. Ibrahim Shams put the visiting Knights on the board with a straight set win over freshman Mitch Petersen at No. 2 singles. Sophomore Mark Goldberg and Savran won their first sets at first and third singles respectively, but things began to turn in FDUs favor as Arvis Berzins rallied for a 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Goldberg and Gricheno battled back to defeat Savran 6-7, 7-5, 6-1.
Krentz pulled Lehigh even at 3-3 with a convincing 6-2, 6-3 win over Skvarka.
The match came down to Goldblum and Hemy at No. 6 singles. Goldblum took the first set in a tiebreak, before Hemy rallied to win set two 7-5. The Lehigh freshman from Pittsburgh prevailed in the third set 6-4, to pick up his first college point and clinch the match for the Brown and White.
The Mountain Hawks will be back on the court Sunday when host Saint Francis (Pa.) at 10 a.m. inside the Lewis Tennis Center.
Lehigh 4, Fairleigh Dickinson 3
Doubles
1. Berzins/Shams (FDU) def. Golberg/Petersen (LU) 8-5
2. Savran/Gilman (LU) def. D. Hemy/Gricheno (FDU) 8-2
3. Krentz/Chernykh (LU) def. M. Hemy/Skvarka (FDU) 9-8 (5)
Singles
1. Arvis Berzins (FDU) def. Mark Goldberg (LU) 1-6, 7-5, 6-3
2. Ibrahim Shams (FDU) def. Mitch Petersen (LU) 6-4, 6-4
3. Yuri Gricheno (FDU) def. Matt Savran (LU) 6-7, 7-5, 6-1
4. Ben Gilman (LU) def. Dom Hemy (FDU) 6-2, 6-1
5. Andrew Krentz (LU) def. Peter Skvarka (FDU) 6-2, 6-3
6. Dan Goldblum (LU) def. Mark Hemy (FDU) 7-6, 5-7, 6-4
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