St. John's Enters BIG EAST Championships as No. 1 Seed

CAYCE, S.C. - Following a week layoff from competition, the St. John's men's tennis team will battle No. 8 seed Xavier in the BIG EAST Men's Tennis Championships presented by Jeep on Friday morning at 9 a.m.

The Johnnies were selected as the tournament's No. 1 seed as announced by the conference office on Monday after accumulating a 16-5 overall record and a perfect 4-0 record in conference matches.

The team makes its fourth-consecutive appearance at the Cayce Tennis and Fitness Center as the Red Storm makes its first trip to the Palmetto State this season.

Friday's quarterfinal match against the Musketeers will begin at 12:30 p.m. with the programs meeting in postseason play for the second-straight season. Last season, the No. 2 Red Storm knocked off No. 7 Xavier, 4-1, in the quarterfinal round.

Andrei Crapcenco looks to get back on a roll heading into the conference tournament. The senior has rattled off victories in five out of his last six matches to end the regular season. The Brasov, Romania native is 7-3 this year on the No. 1 court. Three of his wins at the top-flight have come in BIG EAST play.

Alan Nunez Aguilera is coming off of a two-match winning streak as the defending Co-BIG EAST Player of the Year aims to anchor the No. 2 position for a lengthy tournament run.

On the No. 3 court, Aditya Vashistha has been as good as it gets for the Johnnies. The sophomore enters the postseason with an unblemished 6-0 mark when playing on the third court and enters postseason play with a team-high 14 singles victories.

Dusan Vukicevic currently holds a 13-4 record, featuring in matches at the No. 4 and No. 5 positions. Udayan Bhakar and Ognjen Trejgut have both made contributions in singles play this season for the Red Storm.

In his first season at St. John's, Bhakar finished with a flawless 4-0 record in BIG EAST matches. Trejgut posted a 9-1 record in contests on the No. 6 court.

As a team, St. John's started the year 6-5 with losses at Brown, Columbia, Middle Tennessee State, Princeton, and Monmouth before the Johnnies rattled off 10 consecutive victories during March and April.

With a victory on Friday morning, the Johnnies would advance to play the winner of No. 4 seed DePaul and No. 5 seed Creighton on Saturday morning at 9 a.m.

St. John's Enters BIG EAST Championships as No. 1 Seed

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Players Mentioned

Udayan Bhakar

Andrei Crapcenco

Alan Nunez Aguilera

Ognjen Trejgut

Aditya Vashistha

Dusan Vukicevic

St. John's University Athletics