By Anders Jorstad – Staff writer
The Hofstra men’s tennis team made a statement with its win over Rider University on Sunday.
The Pride put together a dominant performance against the Broncs in their first dual match of the season, sweeping 7-0. In fact, the team didn’t even drop a set to their opponents, as everything seemed to be clicking for them.
Hostra’s singles champions Ari Richman (won 6-1, 6-2), Beau Wills (6-0, 6-1), Ricky Hendler (6-0, 6-0) and Stuart MacLeod (6-1, 6-0) cruised to easy victories while Niko Vulinovich (7-5, 6-0) and Leo Pires (7-5, 6-0) avoided narrow deficits in their opening sets and followed by dominating in their second sets. The doubles champions, Ari Richman/Beau Wills (8-2), Ricky Hendler/Niko Vulinovich (8-1), and Stuart MacLeod/Leo Pires (8-2) dispatched their foes fairly easily.
The singles win for sophomore Ricky Hendler marks his eighth match win of the season, compared to just one loss. The C singles consolation winner in the Stony Brook Invitational and the B singles champion from the Hofstra Invitational didn’t even lose a game to Rider’s Matthew Begley, an impressive accomplishment to say the least. It’ll be exciting to track the success of him and his teammates moving forward.
Hofstra will have plenty of time to prepare for their next competition at the ITA Regional at St. John’s, which occurs on Oct. 16-21. Perhaps this match will give them the momentum they need to succeed there.
Hofstra’s women had only slightly more trouble than the men against Rider, winning 6-1.
Giulia Leone took an easy 6-0, 6-0 victory over Rider’s Danielle Scrudato and was far from the only sign of success for the Pride. Junior Louise Lopez continued her strong year with a 6-3, 6-2 win and classmate Sarah Bowen did similarly with a 6-0, 6-1 outcome.
Carmen Pestano continued the trend with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Kerrin Toner. Leone, Lopez and Pestano are all undefeated in singles this year, with Bowen standing at a 3-1 record. The team’s overall singles record is a remarkable 17-4.
Hofstra’s success continued into doubles, with Bowen/Pestano winning 8-2 and Lopez/Derrick winning 8-1.
The victory is promising for the team’s momentum as they head into a major tournament – the Billie Jean King NTC Invitational, an event that begins on Friday and goes into Sunday. The tournament will be held in the legendary tennis mecca of Flushing, NY, home of the US Open.
