Junior Zeynep Mafa gathers herself for a serve in Drexel’s team
match March 2 against George Washington University.
The Drexel University men’s and women’s tennis teams enjoyed mixed success in their most recent matches. The two teams traveled to Fairfax, Va., March 28 and earned a split against George Mason University. While the men struggled to a 5-1 loss in their match, the women were able to take down the Patriots in decisive fashion 4-0. The men, however, bounced back strong at home by shutting out Saint Peter’s University 7-0. Both teams also competed April 4 at home against Saint Joseph’s University.
Due to weather issues, both the men’s and women’s teams made the decision to include a 10-point tiebreaker rather than going through an entire third set in the event a match was split. The men fought a tough battle against George Mason but couldn’t pull off the upset in an eventual defeat. The Patriots outmatched the Dragons in the No. 1 through No. 4 singles positions. Xabier Saavedra earned the Dragons’ only win in the match, defeating Mason’s Aaron Capitel in a hard-fought 6-7, 6-3, 10-7 match. The win gave the Dragons their only point of the match.
On the women’s side there was a much different result, as the women proved superior to the Patriots by dominating them at each position. The women swept positions No. 1 through No. 4, as Zeynep Mafa took down her opponent 6-1, 6-0, and Nicole Pivonka outplayed Mason’s No. 2 6-3, 6-0. Marcela Rosales also added a win for the Dragons with a 5-7, 6-2, 10-5 decision. Emma Brook played a strong match, taking down the Patriots’ Ashley Delaney 3-6, 6-0, 10-6. Alex Bell and Aysenil Orhon did not complete their matches, but Orhon held a 6-1, 5-3 lead when the match was halted. With the victory, the women improved their record on the season to 9-4.
The Drexel men’s team traveled home and was back on the court April 1 to take on the Saint Peter’s University Peacocks. The Dragons dominated the Peacocks on the day, winning all three doubles matches along with six singles matches on their way to the sweep. Badr Ouabdelmoumen and Skyler Davis took the court in doubles in the No. 1 position and took down their opponent 8-6. Dan Koehler and Saavedra followed in the No. 2 position with an 8-4 victory. Jeganathan Srinivasan and teammate Daniel Hansen completed doubles with a well-played 8-5 win.
The Dragons were very impressive in the singles matches, as each player battled to victory. Ouabdelmoumen proved superior in his match against St. Peter’s Charley Carnera, finishing his opponent 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. Srinivasan took the court at No. 2 for the Dragons and played his way to a 6-3, 4-6, 10-7 victory over Marko Knezevic. Davis took down his opponent 6-1, 6-2 as the Dragons took the No. 3. Koehler followed with a two-set win of his own, going 6-3, 6-3 on the day. At No. 5, Saavedra fought his way to a 5-7, 6-2, 10-7 victory over Oliver Bellomi. Alex Fioravante finished off the singles matches for the Dragons by defeating his opponent 6-0, 6-1 to complete the sweep.
The men and women both took to the courts April 4 at home to take on St. Joe’s. The two teams did not fare as well as in their previous matches, falling 4-2 and 5-2, respectively, to the Hawks.
The teams will return to the courts April 6 to take on the University of Delaware. The men will began their matches at noon, and the women will have a 2 p.m. start.