April 22, 2007
Box Score
BALTIMORE, MD - The Johns Hopkins men's tennis team concluded its regular season with a solid 6-3 win over The College of New Jersey Sunday. The Blue Jays improve to 15-2 on the season while the Lions fall to 10-2. Hopkins has now won 11 straight matches, a school record.
Hopkins opened with wins at all three doubles matches to take a 3-0 lead. Senior Hillen Smith (Baltimore, MD/Boys Latin) and junior Joe Vasoontara (Bangkok, Thailand/Loomis Chaffee) won 8-5 over Michael Klimchak and Roger Mosteller at first. Smith and Vasoontara snapped the pair's 11-match win streak. Juniors Rafael Roberti (Summit, NJ/Summit) and Matt Naftilan (Nashville, TN/Montgomery Bell Academy) also won 8-5, beating Jeremy Eckhardt and William Daly at third. Freshmen David Maldow (Jericho, NY/Jericho Senior) and Dan Myers (Chattanooga, TN/Collegiate School) won at second, defeating Corey Ball and Eric Ferriere 8-6.
In singles action, Ball gave the Lions their first point of the match with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Myers at fourth. Freshman Peter Vale (Haverford, PA/Episcopal Academy) improved to 11-2 on the season with a win at sixth over Sonnie Pollosco, giving Hopkins a 4-1 lead. Roberti then clinched the match for the Jays with a 6-2, 6-3 win at fifth over Eckhardt. He has now won seven straight matches and is 12-3 on the season.
Maldow earned his 17th win of the season at first, defeating Klimchak 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 at first to make it 6-1. Ferriere (third) and Mosteller (second) each won to account for the 6-3 score. Ferriere defeated Wei, ending his five-match win streak, 6-4, 7-6 (5). Mosteller then defeated Vasoontara in three, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4).
After playing three matches in three days, Hopkins will now have days to rest and prepare for the 2007 Centennial Conference Championships. The Blue Jays are the #1 seed after going 8-0 in conference play and will the upcoming tournament. The semifinals will take place on Saturday, April 28 with the finals on Sunday. Details of this weekend's championships will be announced on Monday afternoon.
