St. John's University Athletics
Nationally-Ranked Red Storm Hosts Crosstown Rival Fordham
3/8/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 8, 2012
QUEENS, N.Y. - Winners of four in a row, the St. John's men's tennis team continues its dual-match homestand on Friday, March 8 when it welcomes crosstown rival Fordham to the USTA National Tennis Center at noon. Earlier this week, the Red Storm entered the Campbell's/ITA National Team Rankings for the first time this season at No. 68.
St. John's entered this week's poll after consecutive shutout wins over then-No. 75 Fairfield and Princeton to improve to 8-2 overall and 6-0 at home this season. Last season, the Red Storm entered the Top 75 for the first time in program history at No. 64 exactly one year ago today, and remained in the rankings for the next three weeks.
Junior and No. 1 singles player Vasko Mladenov, the 29th-ranked individual in the nation, continues to lead the Red Storm with an 8-2 record at the top slot, while his classmate and New Jersey native Mike Lampa leads the squad with an 8-1 mark, including six wins at No. 5 singles. Newcomer Ilija Vucic has won four-straight in singles action and also holds an 8-2 record.
The Red and White has taken the doubles point in six of the nine matches doubles play has been needed this season, including three-straight. Last weekend, the Red Storm used the same three pairings - Vucic and Milo Hauk at No. 1, Mladenov and Matty Najfeld at No. 2 and Lampa and Valentin Mihai at No. 3 - to claim the early lead in both matches. Hauk and Mladenov lead the squad with six doubles wins each.
With its most recent victory over St. Peter's on Tuesday, Fordham also enters the meeting on a four-match winning streak and sits at 11-2 overall. Underclassmen continue to lead the Rams, as sophomore and No. 1 singles player Kuba Kowalski is 11-1 at the top slot and freshman Srikar Alla is 10-1 overall, with a 9-0 mark at No. 2. St. John's transfer Mischa Koran is 11-2 during the dual-match season, with seven wins coming at No. 3 singles. Kowalski also leads the Atlantic-10 affiliates with 11 wins in doubles play.
Following the conclusion of the three-match homestand, the Red Storm will head south to Louisiana to take on nationally-ranked opponents in No. 25 LSU on March 15, No. 57 Louisiana-Lafayette on March 16 and conclude the trip with a neutral site match against Illinois State on March 17.
To track the St. John's men's tennis squad throughout the season, follow the team on Twitter (@STJ_Tennis) and be sure to use the #stjtennis hashtag throughout the conversation.
Players Mentioned
