The men’s tennis team ended their season with a 1-1 record at the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament in Orlando, Florida. SLU defeated Fordham, 4-1, in the opening round, but ultimately fell to VCU, 4-3, in a tight match fought all the way to the final singles match.
SLU, the sixth seed, lost their first point of the tournament when they dropped two of three doubles matches. Juniors David Ferragut and Juan Calero defeated Victor Li and Fabian Mauritzson, 6-3, in the lone victory for the Bills at doubles.
However, the Bills were ready to grind out the singles matches as they won three 3-set matches to help pass through the opening round. Sophomore Oscar Pachon started the wins off with a two-set victory over Jeremy Chung, 6-1, 6-3. Then, junior Charlie Parry defeated Nick Borak, 6-2, 7-5. Calero topped Tomas Cosmai at the second spot with a 2-6, 7-6, 6-3 victory. Finally, junior John Nogalski sealed the team win for SLU with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Mauritzson.
SLU’s victories were unfortunately short lived as VCU ousted them from the competition in a 4-3 nailbiter. The Bills sealed the doubles point and continued to fight despite trailing in singles, 3-1, with victories from Ferragut and Calero in the singles arena. The final match came down to senior Paarth Dodhiawala at the fifth place, but he was bested by Ignacio Rivero Crespo, 7-5, 7-5.
The men finished the year with a 8-11 record, including a 3-2 A-10 record. SLU loses their lone senior, Dodhiawala from next year’s roster.
