By Chris Spiker
Staff Writer
The men’s tennis team (3-6, 0-1) lost to New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), 6-1, Saturday and defeated Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne (IPFW), 4-3, Sunday. The women (2-10, 0-2) lost to NJIT, 6-1, Saturday and lost to IPFW, 5-2, Sunday.
Both teams travel to Youngstown State today. The women play at 12 p.m. and the men at 7 p.m.
Sophomore Silviu Mistreanu leads the Penguins’ men’s team (4-3, 0-0) in first singles with a 4-3 spring record. Junior Sebastian Hagn and sophomore Dawoud Kabli lead the Penguins in first doubles with a 3-1 spring record. Bonnies head coach Michael Bates said he wants his men to play consistently in doubles, creating momentum in singles.
“It depends on which team shows up for us,” he said. “If the good team shows up, we can win it. If the other team shows up, we’re in trouble.”
Sophomore Paula de Man leads the Penguins’ women’s team (6-3, 0-0) in first singles with a 7-1 spring record. Sophomore Marta Burak and junior Margarita Sadovnikova lead the Penguins at 4-1 in first doubles this spring. Bates said the women know Youngstown State after playing them in the SBU Fall Classic in October.
“Their top two girls are really strong,” he said. “They’ll be a good test for us.”
Senior Oscar Yanez won two matches for the Bonnies against NJIT. Yanez won in second singles, 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 and joined senior Luis Guevara for an 8-1 first doubles victory. Bates said Yanez takes advantage of favorable matchups in singles and in doubles with Guevara.
“He’s been playing pretty well and pulling out the victories when he needs to,” Bates said.
Junior Javier Ortiz continued his successful spring with singles and doubles victories against IPFW. Ortiz won in fourth singles, 6-4, 6-4, and joined junior Elliot Fanshel for an 8-5 second doubles victory. Ortiz leads the team with a 9-8 overall singles record in 2012-2013, and Bates said Ortiz’s consistent play helps the team in fourth singles.
“He doesn’t have any ups or downs,” he said. “He’s moving much better and his forehand is pretty big.”
Yanez won in second singles, 6-4, 6-2 and Guevara won in third singles, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Sophomore Trevor Haskell and freshman Celso de Vera Rehberger won in third doubles, 8-6.
Bates said the men need to win every crucial singles point.
“We’re still struggling at the bottom of the (singles) lineup,” Bates said. “It’s a lot of pressure but we’re getting better.”
Sophomore Fatya Amiri earned the Bonnies’ only victory against NJIT, winning in second singles, 6-3, 6-2. Sophomore Marissa Brossard forced a third-set tiebreaker in first singles before losing, 6-3, 0-6, 10-7.
Amiri and Brossard won two singles matches for the Bonnies against IPFW. Amiri won in first singles, 6-2, 7-6 (6) and Brossard won in second singles, 6-3, 5-7, 11-9. Bates said Amiri is building on her strong freshman season and steps up against difficult competition.
“She’s more comfortable playing higher in the lineup,” Bates said.
The women’s doubles pairings changed last weekend, splitting up Amiri and Brossard’s usual first doubles pairing. Bates said he wanted to mix up the team’s doubles strategy.
“We were just trying to find some way to win two matches,” Bates said.
