St. John's University Athletics
Men's Tennis Opens Spring Season At The Columbia Classic
1/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Jan. 26, 2006
QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's men's tennis team begins its spring season at the Columbia Classic in New York on Friday, Jan. 27-29. The Red Storm will compete against Manhattan, Marist, host Columbia and Brown.
The Red Storm enters the spring coming off a tournament title win at the UPenn Invitational in October. The men finished 20-8 overall with Louis Desmarteaux (Thornhill, Ontario) and Aliaksandr Svetlakou (Minsk, Belarus) taking first place in the doubles draw.
The Red Storm, which finished third in the BIG EAST last spring, looks toward another intense season. St. John's will host seven home matches, four more than last spring, and head coach Eric Rebhuhn hopes more home matches will add to the team's already confident morale. With strong performances at the end of last spring and in tournaments this fall, the Red Storm has an extremely talented and physically fit lineup.
- The Lineup
Senior Morgan Bauer (New York, N.Y.) returns as co-captain for his final season with the Red Storm. Bauer bounced back from an 0-8 start last season with six consecutive wins. He battled injuries throughout the fall, but is prepared to have a strong spring season. He opened the fall 2005 season with a first place doubles finish at the Northeast Regional. He went 5-2 in doubles play with Claudio Halim (Jakarta, Indonesia).
Joining Bauer as co-captain is junior Desmarteaux. Desmarteaux has developed well over his past two seasons with the Red Storm and possesses a mental and physical advantage. This fall, Desmarteaux went 3-2 in singles play and captured a perfect 5-0 mark in doubles with Svetlakou. At the UPenn Invitational, the duo took first place after being seeded fourth. Last spring Desmarteaux, playing mostly at the No. 1 and 2 positions, posted a 5-7 record in dual singles play and 5-8 in doubles.
Also returning to the Red Storm is 2005 standout David Nylen (Orebro, Sweden). Nylen earned All-BIG EAST honors for his 3-0 mark in the conference tournament and compiled a 13-5 dual singles record that season. Junior Halim rounds out the Red Storm veterans returning this spring. Halim saw a solid 10-8 finish last spring. This fall, he and Bauer took second place at the Northeast Regional in No. 3 doubles and produced a 5-2 record.
Toronto native Jordan Talbot (Toronto, Canada) will enter the spring playing mostly at the No. 6 or 7 positions. Talbot's energy and experience will add needed depth to the Red Storm lineup after losing Aurelio DiZazzo, Todd Goldberg and Nick Stocker to graduation. In the fall, Talbot went 2-3 in singles action, while 2-1 in doubles play.
Also joining the Red Storm this season is freshman Svetlakov and junior Tom Green (Norwich, England). Svetlakou saw much success this fall as well. He posted a 3-3 singles record and a 5-1 doubles mark, going 5-0 with Desmarteaux. Georgia Southern transfer Green brings experience to the talented lineup. Green played two seasons for Georgia Southern before transferring to St. John's. During his last season, he compiled a 7-2 overall doubles record and a 4-5 singles record.
- The Schedule The Red Storm begins its rigorous schedule with the annual Columbia Classic on Jan. 27-29. February starts with two local matches at Cunningham Park. The Red Storm will host Binghamton on Feb. 4 and Marist on Feb. 10. The men finish out the month and head into March with six road trips, the first against the Jaspers of Manhattan College on Feb. 19. The Red Storm travels to New Jersey to take on Princeton on Feb. 24 and then heads back to Columbia again on the 25th. The squad takes on UPenn on Feb. 26 and concludes the trip at Army on March 5.
The Red Storm begins its six game home stand on March 31 against Stony Brook and then Fordham on April 1. The men will host all three BIG EAST competitions on the newly completed Courts at St. John's beginning with Villanova on April 7, Connecticut on April 8 and Rutgers on April 9. St. John's will conclude the regular season with a match against Rebhuhn's alma mater, Concordia, on April 13.
For the most up-to-date information and statistics on St. John's Athletics, please visit www.RedStormSports.com, or call our hotline at 1-888-GO-STORM.
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