4/6/2002

The Georgetown men?s tennis team lost two matches this week to BIG EAST rivals. On Friday April 5 Georgetown fell 4-3 to St. John?s and on Saturday April 6 the Hoyas lost to Connecticut 5-2.

On a chilly Friday afternoon amidst overcast skies, the Hoyas continued their quest for a berth in the BIG EAST Conference Championship Tournament as they took on the St. John's Red Storm.

The Hoya doubles tandems threw themselves into the fray with strong starts at #1 and #2. Marc Lohser (Woodbury, N.Y./Syosset) and Erik Bildman (Brookline, Mass./Roxbury Latin School) came away with an 8-6 victory over Fabian Carchi and John DeLeon in the #1 match and senior co-captains Nick Sklavounos (Waterford, Conn./Waterford) and Ken Jordan (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) used their experience to turn back St. John's freshman pairing on Rick Ferreira and Todd Goldberg 8-4 in the #2 doubles match-up. St. John's team of Chiporukha and Maxwell downed

The Hoya #3 team of Andre Benjamin (New York, N.Y./Fieldston) and Dennis Cravedi (Bethesda, Md./Georgetown Prep) 8-5.

With the Hoyas holding the slight 1-0 advantage garnered from the solid doubles work, the singles competition began as the temperature dipped into the mid-40's. Georgetown increased its lead as Sklavounos took a 6-1,6-4 victory from Goldberg at #6 singles. But St. John's staged a successful comeback to overturn the Hoyas early lead by winning the #2, #3 and #4 singles matches in straight set. Cravedi was downed by Carchi 6-3,6-1 at #2. Troy Crichlow (Milton, Mass./Milton) was downed 6-4,6-3 by Chiporukha at #4. Benjamin was downed 6-4,7-6(6) by Maxwell at #3. St. John's led at this point 3-2 until Bildman was able to come through at #5 singles by saving a match point in the second set in his battle against Christian Carrere 3-6,7-6(3),6-3. Tying the team score at 3-3, the deciding match turned out to be the battle at #1 singles, but Lohser was unable to hold off a determined effort by Ferreira, falling 4-6,7-5,6-1. The final score was Georgetown-3, St. John's-4.

On Saturday afternoon with the temperatures again in the mid-40's, the Hoyas hosted the UConn Huskies in another BIG EAST Conference tilt. Connecticut was able to gain a slight advantage in each doubles match with a strong start, and the Hoyas were not able to respond in time falling by the score of 9-7 in all three matches.

UConn appeared buoyed by the 1-0 lead they took from the doubles competition as the Hoyas were able to win first sets in only two of six singles matches. But every match was dead-even close. At #3 singles Benjamin fell to Adam Sadowski 7-6(9),6-2. In the #4 match, Crichlow came from behind to down Andy Sweatt 1-6,6-1,6-0. At #2 singles Cravedi won his first set but Max Zubatsky battled back to take the match 6-7 (2),6-3,7-5. Lohser overturned his first set deficit to down Mike Furman 3-6,6-2,6-3. At this juncture, the Hoyas faced a 2-3 deficit and the two final matches were in progress with Bildman and Sklavounos tasked with fighting for the decisive two-team points. Both Hoyas battled valiantly but fell short. Bildman was cut down by Joe Lang 6-5,7-6(2) and Sklavounos was turned back by Mike Louis 6-4,4-6,6-1. The final score on the day was Georgetown-2, Connecticut-5.

The Hoyas 2002 dual match record now stands at 7-8. Their record in BIG EAST matches is 1-4 and as a result of that record they will not be one of the six teams selected to compete in the BIG EAST Conference Championship again this year. They have one dual match remaining on the schedule this season as they visit West Virginia on Saturday April 13.

Georgetown vs St. John'sFriday April 5, 2002Georgetown Outdoor Tennis ComplexDoubles#1 Marc Lohser/Erik Bildman d. Fabian Carchi/John DeLeon(SJU) 8-6#2 Nick Sklavounos/Ken Jordan d. Rick Ferreira/Todd Goldberg(SJU) 8-4#3 Andre Benjamin/Dennis Cravedi l. Boris Chiporuka/Jake Maxwell(SJU) 8-5Score from the doubles competition- Georgetown-1, St. John's-0Singles#1 Marc Lohser l. Rick Ferreira(SJU) 4-6,7-5,6-1#2 Dennis Cravedi l. Fabian Carchi(SJU) 6-3,6-1#3 Andre Benjamin l. Jake Maxwell(SJU) 6-3,7-6(6)#4 Troy Crichlow l. Boris Chiporukha(SJU) 6-4,6-3#5 Erik Bildman d. Christian Carrere(SJU) 3-6,7-6(3),6-3#6 Nick Sklavounos d. Todd Golberg(SJU) 6-1,6-4Score from the singles competition- Georgetown-2, St. John's-4Final Score- Georgetown-3, St. John's-4

Georgetown vs ConnecticutSaturday April 6, 2002Georgetown Outdoor Tennis ComplexDoubles#1 Marc Lohser/Erik Bildman l. Mike Furman/Joe Lang(UC) 9-7#2 Nick Sklavounos/Ken Jordan l. Adam Sadowski/Andy Sweatt(UC) 9-7#3 Andre Benjamin/Dennis Cravedi l. Max Zubatsky/Brian Ravesloot(UC) 9-7Score from the doubles competition- Georgetown-0, Connecticut-1Singles#1 Marc Lohser d. Mike Furman(UC) 3-6,6-2,6-3#2 Dennis Cravedi l. Max Zubatsky(UC) 7-6(2),3-6,7-5#3 Andre Benjamin l. Adam Sadowski(UC) 7-6(9),6-2#4 Troy Crichlow d. Andy Sweatt(UC) 1-6,6-1,6-0#5 Erik Bildman l. Joe Lang(UC) 6-4,7-6(2)#6 Nick Sklavounos l. Mike Louis(UC) 6-4,4-6,6-1Score from the singles competition- Georgetown-2, Connectiuct-4Final Score- Georgetown-2, Connecticut-5