WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (October 12, 2019) – The FDU men's tennis team sent one doubles pairing and two singles individuals through to the semifinals of the Middle Atlantic Conference Individual Championship Saturday.
In No. 1 doubles, the unseeded duo of senior Rich Bennett and freshman Jacob Mostoller pushed through to the semifinal round. They topped their opponents from Eastern 8-2, before facing the No. 4 seed from King's. Bennett and Mostoller pulled off the upset, gaining an 8-4 win. They will meet the No. 1 seed from Stevens tomorrow.
Rookie Jonathan Carasso and sophomore JT Murray were topped 8-7 (7-5) at the No. 2 flight in the first round, while senior Chris Fiorenza and freshman Zach Puccia were topped in the quarterfinal round. Fiorenza and Puccia, who were seeded third, fell to the unseeded team from Stevenson at the No. 3 flight. In the final doubles flight, sophomore CJ Milano and freshman Kaya Esgun were topped 8-2 by Lebanon Valley.
Puccia and Fiorenza each responded to their doubles setback by advancing to the semifinals at No. 3 and No. 6 singles, respectively. The rookie Puccia, who was seeded No. 4, topped Ryan Kratz of Eastern 6-0, 6-1 in the first round before knocking off Jarod Snader of Messiah 6-1, 6-1 in the quarters. He will meet No. 1 seeded Mark Kanevsky of Stevens in the semis tomorrow.
Fiorenza was the No. 4 seed at the No. 6 flight and needed just one match to punch ticket to the semifinals. The senior received a bye in the first and blanked Nick Holland of King's 6-0, 6-0, to set up a matchup against top-seeded Arjun Krishnan of Stevens tomorrow.
Bennett won his first match at the No. 2 flight, cruising to a 6-0, 6-0 win. He fell in the second matchup 6-1, 1-6, 10-8 to No. 4 seed Blake Martin of Lebanon Valley. Carasso was topped 6-4, 6-1 by Andrew Bookman of Messiah at the No. 1 flight, while Mostoller fell in a tiebreaker as well. After claiming the first set against No. 4 seed Keith Rader of Arcadia 6-3, Mostoller was topped 6-2, 10-7 in the final two.
Murray posted a win in the first round at the No. 5 flight, shutting out Jacob Craig of Eastern 6-0, 6-0. Facing No. 4 seed Richie Abruscato of Stevenson, Murray fell 6-2, 6-1. Esgun received a bye into the quarterfinal round but fell to Eloi Pradier of Stevens 6-1, 6-3.
FROM THE COURT
"Overall, I'm happy with the performance," said Head Coach Tom Battaglia. "Losing four tiebreakers is tough, but we will learn from it. Our players have to learn to get out of the gate faster and not put ourselves in a hole early. Chris and Zach played to their seeds, and that's always good. Jakob and rich played exciting doubles, so I'm pleased with that result. We play Stevens in every semifinal tomorrow, and I know they will be excited for the competition."
UP NEXT
The Devils close out Day Two of the MAC Individual Championship tomorrow morning, beginning at 8:30 a.m.
