The men's tennis team earned two victories at the Blue/Gray Classic Invitational this weekend. The team beat San Diego State University 4-2 and No. 39 North Carolina State University 4-3 after dropping their first match of the tournament 4-0 to No. 25 Tulane University.
The No. 63 Bears never had a chance against Tulane, which clinched the doubles point with wins at the first and second spots. Due to time constraints, the third doubles match was not finished.
In singles play, Tulane earned victories in straight sets at the second, third and fourth spots to seal the match. Brown co-captains Adil Shamasdin '05 and Nicholas Goldberg '05 did not finish their matches, though both players were in contention to win.
During the match against Tulane, the team "played with a little lack of confidence, which does not happen often to us. Some of that was due to the adjustment that had to be made to playing outdoors, which is a big one," said Head Coach Jay Harris. Beating Tulane proved to be a tough order for the entire field, though, as the Green Wave went on to win the tournament.
"We were outplayed in the match. The loss was decisive. We were a little flat-footed in the doubles, and the singles was closely fought, but Tulane captured convincing wins," said Richard Moss '06.
The opening loss gave Bruno the motivation to win its next two matches. The match against Tulane "made us realize that we needed to play better and told us that if we were patient and allowed ourselves to adjust that we would be able to play confidently for the rest of the tournament," Harris said.
In its 4-2 defeat of San Diego State, Brown was able to win the doubles point despite an uncharacteristic loss by Shamasdin and Goldberg. However, Eric Thomas '07 and Saurabh Kohli '08 won 8-5 at second doubles and Phillip Charm '06 and Moss secured the point in third doubles by the same margin. "Phil and Eric showed tremendous will and character in clinching two very close matches," Moss said.
San Diego State staged a brief rally, earning two points as they defeated Thomas at third singles and Moss at fourth singles. Yet Brown bounced back, as Goldberg posted a 6-1, 6-4 win at second singles, Luke Tedaldi '06 won 6-0, 7-6 at sixth and Charm fought to a 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 win at fifth to clinch the match.
The story of the weekend, however, was the Bears' 4-3 victory over NC State, who had handed the Bears their first loss of the season by the same score.
Brown took the doubles point when Shamasdin and Goldberg won at first doubles 8-4 and Charm and Moss clinched in the third spot 8-5.
In singles action, NC State kept it close, posting wins at fourth, fifth and sixth against Charm, Kohli and Tedaldi. But Brown answered with three singles wins of its own to take the match. Shamasdin got the best of Wolfpack senior Conor Taylor in the third set of a close 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 match. Goldberg defeated first-year Nick Cavaday 6-2, 7-5, and Thomas rebounded after dropping a first-set tiebreaker against sophomore Andre Iriarte to win 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-1.
"Mentally we were ready and I think (NC State was) a little unsure coming into the match because they stole the match at our place the last time we met and they knew we were pissed," Shamasdin said.
One factor contributing to the victory was the dominating doubles play. "The last time we met, we lost it and (would have) had to win four out of six singles matches, which is a tough task (against) a solid team," Shamasdin said. Also different this time was the presence of Goldberg, who did not play in the previous meeting. "It's nice to have another dominating force in the top three of the line-up," Shamasdin said. Goldberg's victories at first doubles and second singles were enough to sway the close match in Brown's favor.
The win over NC State is a satisfying demonstration of the squad's development this season. "We have gone through such a transformation as a team - our guys have really gotten comfortable with their individual roles and how those roles are developing, and now they are able to be fully committed to each other as a team," Harris said.
The 10-3 Bears return home this weekend to face Hofstra University and Boston College on Saturday at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
