NORFOLK, Va. - The Tennis Monarchs improved to 6-1 on Saturday after taking down the Owls from Temple by a score of 6-1 at the Folkes-Stevens Indoor Tennis Center. ODU’s only loss this season was at the hands of the No. 55 ranked Princeton Tigers. The Owls remain winless on the season, dropping to 0-5.
The Monarchs got off to another thunderous start against the Temple Owls on Saturday afternoon. The new pairing of Jonas Kuwert and Carlos Lopez Villa in the No. 1 spot, defeated Hernan Vasconez and Maros Januvka (6-1) of Temple. Also the tandem of Dante Terenzio and Zvominir Podvinski have been a model of consistency this season for the Monarchs, who made quick work of the Owls’ duo of Santiago Canete and Vineet Naran (6-2).
In Singles, No. 30 Carlos Lopez-Villa improved to 7-0 on the season with his win over Temple’s No. 1 Hernan Vasconez (6-0, 6-0), which continues his streak of seven matches without giving up a set. Coach Aljosa Piric commented, “Carlos was a catalyst for this team getting off the court early”.
Dante Terenzio got back on track after a tough loss against UMBC, prevailing over the Owl’s No. 2, Santiago Canete (6-3, 6-1). Old Dominion’s Darragh Glavin won the third match in a row for the Monarchs, when he defeated Temple’s Nicolas Paulus (6-3, 6-3).
The Monarch’s were tested in the following three matches, as all of them went into a third set tiebreaker to determine the winner. Zvonimir Podvinski had a come from behind victory, after losing the first set to Kristian Marquart (4-6, 6-4, (10-3)).
Also Abdoulaye Camara, who was just added to the roster this week, showed his resiliency by overcoming a 5-1 deficit in the first set and coming back strong to win the tiebreaker third set against Filip Stipcic (5-6(7-2) 6-5(7-5) (10-5)).
Piric went on to say, “The highlight of the day was Abdoulaye at No. 6. He kept fighting, kept believing, and that’s what this team is all about and what this team wants to do all year. A bunch of fighters. It was a good team win against a solid Temple squad.”
Next Up for the Monarchs:
The Monarchs will travel to face the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech on Sunday, February 16th at 12:00 p.m. in Atlanta. The next home match for the Tennis Monarchs will be the team’s first conference match against, the UTSA Road Runners on February 22.
Temple vs. Old Dominion University
Final Score: Temple 1 Old Dominion 6
Doubles:
1. Jonas Kuwert/Carlos Lopez Villa (ODU) d. Hernan Vasconez/Maros Januvka (TU) 6-1
2. Dante Terenzio/Zvominir Podvinski (ODU) d. Santiago Canete/Vineet Naran (TU) 6-2
3. Hicham Belkssir/Nicolas Paulus (TU) dnf. Darragh Glavin/Abdoulaye Camara (ODU) 4-2
Singles:
1. No. 30 Carlos Lopez-Villa (ODU) d. Hernan Vasconez (TU) 6-0, 6-0
2. Dante Terenzio (ODU) d. Santiago Canete (TU) 6-3, 6-1
3. Nicolas Paulus (TU) d. Jonas Kuwert (ODU) 5-6(3-7), 6-4, (10-8)
4. Zvonimir Podvinski (ODU) d. Kristian Marquart (TU) 4-6, 6-4, (10-3)
5. Darragh Glavin (ODU) d. Hicham Belksir (TU) 6-3, 6-3
6. Abdoulaye Camara (ODU) d. Filip Stipcic (TU) 5-6(7-2) 6-5(7-5) (10-5)
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