The UR men’s tennis team started its fall season by finishing fourth in the Flower City Tournament, which it hosted along with Nazareth College. The ‘Jackets beat Hobart College 5-0 while losing to Skidmore College 2-5 and SUNY Oneonta 4-5.
In the Hobart match, sophomore Brian Bowman won the first position singles match 7-5,7-5. He later teamed up with freshman Ryan Kovaleski to win the No. 1 doubles match, 8-0. Kovaleski also went on to win his singles match at the second position, 6-2, 6-4. The rest of the singles matches were not finished, but with the doubles sweep that UR picked up, they had enough points for the victory. Freshmen Bennett Peterson and Patrick Sheehan took care of the second doubles by winning 8-5. The third doubles team of graduate student Jason Maher and sophomore Adam Crosby won as well, 8-5.
For the match against Skidmore College, the team did not fare as well, falling 2-5. Bowman lost in the first singles position, 4-6, 4-6 while Kovaleski lost in the second singles position, 4-6, 3-6. When they teamed up for the first doubles match, Bowman and Kovaleski lost narrowly in a tie-breaker 8-9. Peterson won at the third singles position 6-3, 6-4. Paired again together with Sheehan, the second doubles team continued their mastery, winning their match 8-5. Crosby and Maher lost their doubles match 1-8. Freshman Sam Mindlin lost his match in the fifth singles spot, 0-6, 2-6. The rest of the singles matches went unfinished.
The ‘Jackets finished the Flower City Tournament by narrowly falling to the SUNY Oneonta, 4-5. Bowman lost the first position singles match in the third set, 6-7, 6-4, 2-6.
“Brian is going to be challenged this year but I think he is eager to step up and play at a high level. He has significantly improved over his first year and comes into the fall in good shape looking to improve further,” head coach Anna Tozin said. Kovaleski won his second singles match, 6-4, 1-6, 6-1. Peterson won his third singles position, 7-6, 4-6, 6-2. Sheehan also defeated his opponent handily, 6-0, 6-3. Maher could not overcome his opponent in the fifth singles match, falling 1-6, 4-6. Also, senior Michael Kornhauser could not defeat his opponent in the sixth spot singles match, falling 2-6, 2-6.
The doubles matches were not kind to the UR team. The first doubles of Bowman and Kovaleski were the only team to collect a point as they won their match, 8-3. The team of Peterson and Sheehan did not manage to pull out their match as they fell, 5-8. The third doubles team of Maher and Crosby lost their match, 1-8.
“The team is young and looking to get some experience over the next two weekends in individual tournament competition and use the off-season to develop and prepare for the spring,” Tozin said.
The team has their next match at the St. Lawrence Invitational on Sept. 22.
The women’s tennis team started off its season with a bang, sweeping SUNY Brockport off the court with a 9-0 victory. Freshman Lia Weiner started her career on a roll in the first singles position, 6-3, 6-1. Senior Collen Cross made a successful return to the courts from her semester abroad, defeating her opponent in the second singles position, 6-2, 7-5.
The other senior, Alexa Perry also won her match in the third singles position, 6-0, 6-0. Freshman Elana Polivy started her career on the right foot by defeating her opponent in the fourth singles position, 6-0, 2-6, 10-4. Junior Melinda Beckmann won her match 6-2, 6-3, and freshman Diane Samuels completed the singles sweep by winning her match, 6-0, 6-3.
The doubles matches went exactly as the singles, with the UR team sweeping all three matches. Cross and Weiner came together to win their match, 8-3. The second pairing of Perry and freshman Nisha Javeri won 8-1 and Polivy and Beckmann took the last doubles match, 8-2.
Maystrovsky is a member of the class of 2009.
