The men’s tennis team embarked on their A-10 conference season this weekend, facing Dayton and Duquesne. Despite a hard 7-0 loss to the Flyers on Feb. 17, the men were able to counteract their rough start with a 4-1 win over the Dukes on Feb. 18.
Starting with doubles, the team of sophomore Oscar Pachon and freshman Justin Nogalski dropped a 6-4 decision to Dayton. The number two team of juniors Charlie Parry and John Nogalski were also bested by the Flyers, 6-3, thus conceding the doubles point to their opponents.
The bottom half of SLU’s roster could not find a groove in singles play, leaving it up to the top three Billikens to give SLU a chance. Junior David Ferragut lost in a close two-set battle, 6-4, 7-6. Junior Juan Calero also lost in a second-set tiebreaker, 6-2, 7-6. Parry was the only Billiken to take a set off a Dayton player, but he could not squeak out a win in the 6-3, 6-7, 1-0 loss.
Luckily, the men were given another chance to redeem themselves on the weekend, and they had no problem putting the Dukes in their place.
The men made quick work of the matches. They pulled out the doubles point when the team of Ferragut and Calero and the team of senior Paarth Dodhiawala and Justin Nogalski were both victorious. This was enough to take the upper hand entering the singles competition.
The top three seeds made their way onto the court first. Ferragut won in two sets, 6-2, 6-4. Calero fought through a tight first set to add another victory to SLU’s belt, 7-5, 6-1. Parry was tested yet again in a third set showdown, dropping the first set, 6-3, but rallying back to win 6-1, 10-8 in the final two sets.
John Nogalski was defeated, 6-0, 6-2, but the first three victories were enough for SLU to clinch the win; Pachon and Dodhiawala did not have to finish their matches because of the early victory.
SLU started their 2017 season with a 1-1 record, moving to 4-3 overall. Coming up for the Billikens are three road conference games. They will face VCU, St. Joseph’s and Fordham on Feb. 23, 24 and 25, respectively. They will wrap up the season with all non-conference games, and are looking forward to the A-10 tournament on April 27-30.
