CHARLESTON, S.C. – The New Jersey City University men’s and women’s tennis teams opened the season with tough matches against NCAA Division 1 teams on Tuesday, March 8. The team returns after a short fall preseason, where both teams took down Fairleigh Dickinson University – Florham before attending the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regional Tournament. The men’s team also played Wagner College, where they fell in a close 4-5 battle, concluding the fall series.
The men started the day against The Citadel (4-13), where sophomore Nico Teynie (Rouen, France/Lycée Val de Seine) and junior Ryan Weiss (Mullica Hill, N.J./Clearview Regional) notched two singles wins for the Gothic Knights (1-1). Despite some close battles on both the doubles and singles side, the Green & Gold ultimately fell 2-5.
The Bulldogs took the lead after winning the overall doubles point. Senior captain Theo Bourhelle and Teynie played a tough match-up, dropping 6-1 at first doubles. At third doubles, Weiss and freshman Olaf de Lange (Maasland, Netherlands/Stedelijk Gymnasium Schiedam) took an early lead but fell behind and dropped 6-3. Sophomores Alejandro Ley (Las Palmas, Spain/I.E.S. Politécnico) and Jordi Julia (Barcelona, Spain/IES Sant Quirze del Valles) also put up a fight, falling 4-6 at second doubles.
Moving to singles, Julia was the first to finish, dropping 6-1, 6-4 at four singles. De Lange followed, dropping 6-2, 6-1 at six singles. Bourghelle made a striking comeback from the first set, but ultimately fell 6-1, 7-5 at first singles. Next to finish was Teynie with the first NJCU win of the match. Teynie, in second singles, took Zvonko Bencedic to tiebreak in the first set, then dominated the second, winning 7-6 (4-0), 6-3. Weiss followed Teynie with the second and final win for the Gothic Knights. Weiss went to three sets in the fifth singles spot, winning 2-6, 6-2, 6-2. Ley was the last on court, battling back after dropping the first set. After dominating the second set, Ley forced the match into a tie break, where he fell 10-3.
MEN’S FULL RESULTS (NJCU 2, Citadel 5)
Doubles (3-0 Citadel)
1: Robins/Schoemake (C) def. Bourghelle/Teynie (N), 6-1
2: Bencedic/Kamieniecki (C) def. Ley/Julia (N)), 6-4
3: Barkley/Schainblatt (C) def. De Lange/Weiss (N) 6-3
Singles (4-2 Citadel)
1: Schoemake (C) def. Bourghelle (N), 6-1, 7-5
2: Teynie (N) def. Bencedic (C), 7-6 (4-0), 6-3
3: Robins (C) def. Ley (N), 6-1, 1-6, 7-6 (10-3)
4: Kamieniecki (C) def. Julia (N), 6-1, 6-4
5: Weiss (N) def. Schainblatt (C), 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
6: Minnich (C) def. de Lange (N), 6-2, 6-1
On the women’s side, NJCU (1-1) traveled next door to the College of Charleston (3-4), another NCAA Division 1 competitor. The Gothic Knights were unable to put matches on the board, as the Cougars dominated with a 7-0 win. Juniors Giada Zorzan (Milan, Italy/Liceo dello Sport Marco Pantani) and Eliza Clamor (Auckland, New Zealand/Rangitoto College) teamed up against the CofC at first doubles – despite the battle, the Cougars left with a 6-3 win. Freshmen Vanshita Malhotra (Barwala, India/DAV Model School) and Mila Gligorov (Milan, Italy/Collegio San Carlo) fell 6-0 at second doubles, while graduate student Brittany Waugh (Stevenson Ranch, Calif./West Ranch) and freshman Sara Zorzan (Milan, Italy/Liceo Falcone Borsellino) fell 6-1 at third.
Waugh was the first to finish after a dropping 6-0, 6-0 at fifth singles. Malhotra then fell 6-0, 6-1 at third singles, followed by Gligorov, who fell 6-1, 6-0 at fourth singles. Giada was next to drop 6-1, 6-0 at first singles, followed by Sarah 6-0, 6-1 in the sixth spot. Clamor put up a fight, but ultimately fell 6-1, 6-2 at the second singles spot, closing out the match.
WOMEN’S FULL RESULTS (NJCU 0, College of Charleston 7)
Doubles (3-0 CofC)
1: Errard/Earnhardt (C) def. G. Zorzan/Clamor, 6-3
2: Nowak/Jekauc (C) def. Malhotra/Gligorov, 6-0
3: Daniel/Walter (C) def. Waugh/S. Zorzan, 6-1
Singles (6-0 CofC)
1: Jekauc (C) def. G. Zorzan (N), 6-1, 6-0
2: Earnhardt (C) def. Clamor (N), 6-1, 6-2
3: Nowak (C) def. Malhotra (N), 6-0, 6-1
4: Walter (C) def. Gligorov (N), 6-1, 6-0
5: Errard (C) def. Waugh (N), 6-0, 6-0
6: Daniel (C) def. S. Zorzan (N), 6-0, 6-1
UP NEXT:
The NJCU women’s team will travel to Savannah, Ga., to compete against Savannah State University on Friday, Mar. 11, at 5 p.m. The men’s team will head back to play College of Charleston on Saturday, Mar. 12 (12 p.m.) to conclude the team’s spring-trip competition.
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