St. John's (N.Y.)
Cal Poly Men's Tennis Edged By St. John's, 4-3
2/1/2020 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
TUCSON, Ariz. — The Cal Poly men's tennis team dropped its opening match of the weekend in Tucson, Ariz., falling to St. John's University 4-3 on Saturday.
The Mustangs (1-2) started the match by just narrowly missing winning the doubles point. Cal Poly's No. 2 duo of sophomore Gary Vardanyan and freshman Fernando Fonseca got things started with a 6-4 win. They are now 3-0 as a tandem this season. However, the Red Storm (7-1) then picked up wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots to take the doubles point.
St. John's won the first singles match of the day after No. 44 Aditya Vashistha beat senior Antoine Noel, 6-2, 6-3. The Red Storm then went up 3-0 after a win at the No. 4 spot.
Cal Poly continued to fight though. Vardanyan got the Mustangs on the board after a 7-5, 6-3 win at the No. 5 spot. He is now 2-1 in singles this season.
Freshman Joe Leather closed the gap to 3-2 after a 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory at the No. 3 spot. He is also 2-1 in singles this season.
Sophomore Cambell Nakayama (pictured) then tied it at 3-3 after he won his match at the No. 6 position, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. He is 2-1 in singles this season.
After a three-set battle at the No. 2 spot, St. John's' Udayan Bhakar beat Fonseca 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 to seal the 4-3 win for the Red Storm.
Cal Poly will look for redemption on Sunday when they stay in Tucson to face No. 25 Arizona at 11 a.m.
