St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Heads to Yale for Weekend Tilt
3/30/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
QUEENS, N.Y. - Closing out a victorious month of March, the St. John's men's tennis team heads to New Haven, Conn. for a battle with Yale on Saturday afternoon at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center.
The Red Storm (11-4) will search for its 11th victory over its last 12 matches, capping off a month filled with triumphs under first year head coach Craig Schwartz.
Last weekend the Johnnies played in a pair of heart-stopping matches, rallying from behind to defeat conference foe Marquette and scraping out a victory over Monmouth.
In the first meeting between the Red Storm and Golden Eagles since the BIG EAST Championship match in 2016, all but one singles match went to three sets as St. John's collected a 4-3 win.
After claiming the doubles point, Dusan Vukicevic gave the Johnnies a 2-0 lead with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory from the No. 4 position, but Marquette responded with three-straight singles triumphs to put the hosts in a 3-2 hole.
Andrei Crapcenco started the rally with a thrilling, three-set victory from the No. 3 position. The junior dropped the first set, 7-6, before collecting a 7-6 win of his own to send the match to a tiebreaker.
With the match tied at three, all eyes turned to the No. 6 court as the victory came down to just one match with Daniel Skripnik playing in his first singles match since early last season following a pair of surgeries to his shoulder and knee that sidelined the junior.
Skripnik dropped the opening set, 6-4, but rallied to claim the second in convincing fashion, 6-2, to send the final match into a fitting tiebreaker. In the final set, the junior held off his opponent for a 7-5 win and the match for St. John's in a storybook ending for Skripnik.
Just a day later St. John's again , Crapcenco capped off his perfect weekend from the No. 3 court with a 7-5, 6-1 victory to start the scoring in the match before the Hawks responded with a pair of 6-4 wins on the top court to level the match at one.
Vukicevic restored the lead with a 6-2, 7-6 triumph from the No. 4 position, but Monmouth continued to counterpunch with a 6-0, 6-2 victory of its own to once again bring the match to a tied score.
After dropping only his second match of the season in singles play, Aguilera looked to be in trouble again following a 7-6 loss in the opening set. The junior responded, however, with a pair of 6-4 victories to push the Johnnies in front, 3-2.
With the match once again coming down to Skripnik, the junior delivered again with a 6-1, 6-2 win on the No. 6 court to cement the weekend sweep for the Johnnies.
In his victorious comeback efforts, Skripnik was honored as the BIG EAST Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week for the first time in his career.
Yale enters the weekend with a 9-6 record in dual-match play this season, and looks to snap a two-match losing skid.
The Bulldogs have been good on their home court this year, compiling a 5-1 record in New Haven.
St. John's will return home for a start of a three-match homestand on Monday when the Johnnies host NJIT at 3 p.m. on the SJU Tennis Courts.
