VILLANOVA, Pa. – The Saint Joseph's men's tennis team concluded play at the Villanova Invitational on Sunday.
In second round play, juniors Nick Ringle and Alexander Schneider earned a clean sweep of Lafayette's Ethan Binder and Matt Debenditto, starting off the match with a 6-2 doubles win. Schneider then topped Debenditto, 6-1, 6-3, before Ringle won an 8-1 decision over Binder.
Senior Valentijn van Erven and freshman Beekman Schaeffer duplicated the feat, winning their doubles match over Tomas Christian and Joe DiOrio of La Salle, 6-4. Schaeffer was a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Christian, and van Erven toppled DiOrio, 8-7 (6).
Sophomores Andre Fick and Tim Stierle cruised to a win, starting off with a 6-2 victory over Adam Levi and Chris Popso of Rider. Fick then downed Popso, 6-1, 6-0, while Stierle rolled by Levi, 6-2, 6-1.
Seniors Tristan Boustany and Kyle Chalmers fell, 7-5, in a doubles match against Tyler Flematti and Laurenz Lankes of Delaware. Chalmers then earned a 6-4, 6-2 singles victory over Flematti, but Lankes topped Boustany, 7-5, 6-0, to give the Blue Hens the win.
Freshmen Scott Battaglia and Luis Janko went down 6-1 in doubles play against Villanova's Alastair Hurry and Tommy Mulflur. Janko won his singles match over Hurry, 6-3, 6-1, but Battaglia fell to Mulflur by the same score.
Junior Peter Dewitt and sophomore Dan Tan were swept by Jonathan Ducretot and Pierre Kohler of Chestnut Hill College.
In the third round, van Erven and Schaeffer posted another sweep, taking down Drew Rooks and Kris Kim of Lafayette. After teaming up for a 6-1 doubles win, van Erven defeated Kim, 8-3, and Schaeffer checkmated Rooks, 6-1, 6-3.
Fick and Stierle earned three wins over Ilya Kneppelhout and Eric Poland of Wagner. The Hawk duo claimed a 6-2 doubles win before Fick topped Kneppelhout, 6-0, 7-6 (3), and Stierle beat Poland, 9-7.
Ringle and Schneider defeated Ryan Ciaccio and Diego Delgado of Rider, 6-4, before Ringle posted a 6-4, 6-1 win over Ciaccio to clinch a team victory.
Battaglia and Janko dropped a doubles tilt to a duo from Chestnut Hill, but Janko gutted out a 3-6, 6-3, 10-5 singles triumph while Battaglia's opponent defaulted to give the Hawks a win.
Dewitt and Tan fell to La Salle's Brian Balico and Francesco Mowery. Tan earned an 8-3 singles win over Balico, but the Explorers claimed the other two matches.
Boustany and Chalmers dropped their third round tilt to Dylan Flanagan and Jimmy Purdy of Villanova.
In final round action, van Erven and Schaeffer topped teammates Ringle and Schneider, 6-2, in doubles play. Schaeffer then beat Schneider, 8-1, while van Erven won via default.
Fick and Stierle topped Mike Czlonka and Bradley Noyes of Villanova, 6-3. Fick led Noyes, 6-2, 1-0, when Noyes retired, and Czlonka defaulted in his match against Stierle.
Battaglia and Janko topped Delaware's Roy Cheng and Colin Wong, 6-4, but the Blue Hen pair won both singles matches to claim the overall victory.
The Hawks will now prepare for the eighth annual Saint Joseph's Invitational, to be held at the SJU Tennis Complex from Friday to Sunday.
