Playing its first matches in over two months, Boston College men’s tennis returned to action in New York, taking on St. Johns on Friday—and it proved to be a test of endurance, with the event finally concluding around 12:45 a.m. at the USTA National Tennis Center. The Eagles were competitive throughout, forcing a tiebreaker in the doubles matches, but ultimately dropped five of the last six singles matches and fell to their hosts, 5-2.
Despite a loss on the night, BC constantly battled. The Eagles’ No. 3 doubles team, Conor Mullins and Peter Tutecky, fell to St. John’s Charlie James and Alex Roszkowski, 6-2, to open the night. To combat the first doubles loss, the Eagles’ No. 2 doubles team, Chris Grassel and Max Palmer, defeated St. John’s Andrei Crapcenco and Daniel Skripnik, 6-3. As a result, the subsequent No. 1 doubles match served as the tie-break. BC’s Derek Austin—who enjoyed a strong night on the court—and Sean Mullins narrowly edged the Red Storm’s Alan Nunez Aguilera and Aditya Vashistha in the final doubles match to win, 7-5.
Heading into the singles matches, the Eagles had the upper hand, but St. John’s didn’t seem to notice. The Red Storm shook off the point lost in doubles competition and competed in the singles matches with a new fiery sense of competition.
Because of St. John’s straight set victories in three singles matches, the No. 4 match between Vashistha and BC’s Max Mendelsohn proved to be a must-win for both squads. Mendelsohn won the first set, 6-4, but he ceded the final two to Vashistha by scores of 7-5 and 6-1.
Due to Vashistha’s win, St. John’s led the Eagles, 4-2, heading into the final match. BC’s Mullins clinched the first set in an ultimately meaningless match, but dropped the final two to solidify St. John’s 5-2 victory.
As BC battles Connecticut at home on Tuesday, the Eagles must try to continue to come out of the gate strong, but will also need to sustain high level of play throughout each match.
Featured Image Courtesy of Boston College Athletics
