Bears Tennis Puts Forth Strong Showing in Loss to Webb

FLUSHING, NY – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's tennis team played their most competitive match of the season but fell to Webb Institute, 7-2, on Tuesday evening at the US National Tennis Center.

Junior Simon Diaz (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield) overcame a 0-4 deficit to notch his first career victory, defeating Nate Fast at #5 singles, 10-7.  He later teamed up with Jon Mendez (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) at #3 doubles and they jumped out to a 6-3 lead before falling 8-6.

Senior Muhammad Ali Bhatti (Brooklyn, NY/James Madison) notched his first singles win of the season with a 10-4 triumph at #1 singles over Dale Pederson.  Bhatti later paired up with Vinny Rossi (Bayside, NY/Holy Cross) dropping an 8-3 decision at #1 doubles.

The Bears nearly went into the doubles competition tied with the Webbies, 3-3, with senior Danny Contant (Staten Island, NY/Xaverian) taking Ben Rockwell to the limit at #6 singles falling in a tiebreaker, 10-9, in the final and closest singles match of the evening.  Contant erased two match points in the tiebreaker before succumbing 7-5.

St. Joseph's (0-10, 0-5 HVMAC) will return to the US National Tennis Center on Saturday, May 5th for the Hudson Valley Men's Athletic Conference Tournament starting at 10 am.