Men's Tennis Battles For Doubles Point, But Falls 7-0 To Fordham

PHILADELPHIA – Sophomore Joseph LaBate and junior Trevor Donovan picked up an 8-6 victory at No. 2 doubles, but that was the only win the Explorers would take as the men's tennis team fell 7-0 to Fordham on Tuesday afternoon at the La Salle Tennis Courts.

The Explorers had a chance to take the doubles point. Chas Berenato and Fernando Tovia dropped their No. 1 doubles match, but Hunter Selman and Robert Kasinow battled Fordham at No. 3 doubles.

Selman and Kasinow took an early lead on the Rams' Peder Gram and Michael Puntillo, but the Fordham pair came back to go up 7-6.

Kasinow helped even it up at 7-all, winning the point after a strong serve.

The match would go to 8-all, but the Explorers couldn't hold up in the tiebreaker, dropping it 8-6.

Earlier in the competition, La Salle dropped all of the singles matches.

De'Sean Fennell and Dale Fetterman were scratched from the lineup before the match began due to an injury and an illness, respectively.

"We were really looking forward to this match against an Atlantic 10 opponent," head coach Ed Colfer said. "It was unfortunate that injuries forced us to change our lineup, but Robert and Hunter stepped in and had a good effort today."

The start time was moved up two hours to 1:30 p.m. because of the impending rain showers later in the day. The singles competition also took place first.

Doubles
1. Alla/Kowalski (FORD) def. BerenatoTovia (LAS), 8-3
2. LaBate/Donovan (LAS) def. Gram/Michael Puntillo (FORD), 8-6
3. Andriy Kulak/Eli Plangger (FORD) def. Selman/Kasinow (LAS), 9-8 (8-6)