In their first BIG EAST Conference match of the 2001 season, the men's team lost to visiting St. John's 4-3. The outcome will have a significant impact on the Hoyas ability to qualify for the BIG EAST Conference Tournament in Miami, Fla. April 20-22 since this year only the top six BIG EAST teams are invited.
In the doubles competition that opened the team match, the Hoyas fell behind early in two of the three matches. At #1 doubles, Marc Lohser (So., Woodbury, N.Y./Syosset) and Dennis Cravedi (Fr., Bethesda, Md./Georgetown Prep) fell behind 6-0 and then faced match game at 1-7 when they made a substantial comeback. The Hoyas top tandem broke Jake Maxwell's serve twice and Eric Scharf's once and in the process held serve twice to get a chance to even the match at 7-all with E. Scharf serving, but E. Scharf held for the match, 8-6. At #3 doubles, Andre Benjamin (Jr., New York, N.Y./Fieldston) and Troy Crichlow (So., Wilton, Mass./Milton) fell behind a break of serve early but rebounded solidly to defeat Fabian Carchi and Cameron Lore 8-6. The decisive match in the doubles proceedings was the #2 contest, where Nick Sklavounos (Jr., Waterford, Conn./Waterford) and Mike Nelson (Fr., Trinidad & Tobago/Port-of-Spain) battled Christian Carrere and Brian Scharf. Carrere served for the match at 7-6 and held match point at 30-40. Nelson came through with a big return and the Hoyas eventually broke to even the match. Nelson then held serve to put the Hoyas up 8-7. SJU's B. Scharf won his next serve game to put the match into a tiebreaker where the Red Storm duo outlasted the Hoyas, 7-3, thus winning the match 9-8 and giving St. John's the doubles point.
With St. John's holding a 1-0 lead the singles competition began. At #1 singles Sklavounos faced a tall task as he faced 2000 NCAA Singles Qualifier E. Scharf. E. Scharf cruised to a 6-2,6-2 victory to put the Red Storm up 2-0. But in the #3 singles match, Crichlow responded with the Hoyas first team point of the day, defeating Maxwell 6-2,7-5. Then Lohser chipped in with a 7-6(5),6-3 victory over Carchi at #2 singles to knot the team score at 2-all. The other matches in progress were extremely close as momentum swung back and forth between the Georgetown players and the St. John's players. Cravedi fought back after dropping the first set 6-2 to take the second set 6-2 against B. Scharf at #4 singles. Benjamin fought back after dropping the first set against Nick Teppara at #5 singles in a tiebreaker to win the second set in a tiebreak. Nelson fell behind a set and 3-1 to Lore at #6 singles before making a comeback with break points to take a 5-3 lead in the second set. Cravedi would fall 6-1,2-6,6-3 to give St. John's their third team point and Nelson would lose 6-2,6-4 to give the Red Storm the overall match clinching fourth team point. Benjamin eventually won his match 6-7(4),7-6(6),6-2 to give the Hoyas their third and final team point.
Next up for Georgetown is George Mason on Tuesday, March 20, 2001. The match will be played at George Mason and begins at 2:30 p.m.
Georgetown vs St. John's
March 17, 2001
Doubles
#1 E.Scharf/Maxwell(SJU) d Lohser/Cravedi 8-6
#2 B.Scarf/Carrere(SJU) d Sklavounos/Nelson 9-8(3)
#3 Benjamin/Crichlow d Lore/Carchi 8-6
St. John's wins the doubles point
Score from the doubles competition- Georgetown-0, St. John's-1
Singles
#1 Eric Scharf(SJU) d Sklavounos 6-2,6-2
#2 Lohser d Fabian Carchi(SJU) 7-6(5),6-3
#3 Crichlow d Maxwell(SJU) 6-2,7-5
#4 Brian Scharf(SJU) d Cravedi 6-1,2-6,6-3
#5 Benjamin d Teppara(SJU) 6-7(4),7-6(6),6-2
#6 Cameron Lore(SJU) d Nelson 6-2,6-4
Score from the singles competition Georgetown-3, St. John's-3
Final Score- Georgetown-3, St. John's-4
