Men’s Tennis may be much improved over last year’s squad, but there is still some work to be done. The Rams sit at 4-5 and are beating some of the other middling teams that they are “supposed to beat.” However, it might be a while before Fordham is able to compete with the upper echelon teams in the country. The Rams were overmatched on Sunday, losing 6-1 to a 10-2 Saint Louis Billikens squad.
The Rams faced a challenge before they even took the court against Saint Louis: a change in format. After playing their last four matches under the 4+1 format, Fordham made the switch to the standard 6+3 format on Sunday.
Head coach Michael Sowter believed the transition hurt his team’s performance. “I think it contributed to the way we played,” he said. “We played much better in the beginning and were leading at both No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, but after we lost the point, the guys were definitely flat for singles.”
The format may have changed, but the same struggles in the double’s game, which defined this season for the Rams, persisted. Freshman Victor Li and senior Nick Borak were up 5-3 on Juan Calero and John Nogalski before succumbing 7-6. The duo of junior Tomas Cosmai and sophomore Joseph Kavaloski had that same 5-3 lead on the team of David Farragut and Charlie Perry, but lost 7-6. It was not nearly as close for the first-time combination of sophomores Cameron Posillico and Harris Durkovic in 6-0 sweep courtesy of Paarth Dodhiawala and Miguel Flores.
Despite dropping all three matches, Coach Sowter did see some improvement, saying, “A month ago we weren’t competing well in doubles. Yesterday, we were up 5-3 on the top two courts with opportunities to serve out the match so we’re continuing to improve and I’m sure the guys see that as well.”
Singles action, typically the bright spot for Fordham, was equally as desolate as the doubles. The Rams’ lone point came from Li in a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Nogalski. Senior Pedro Alonso, kept out of doubles action because of a cold, took Juan Calero to three sets in a 6-1, 7-6, 7-2 loss. It took just as many sets for Ferragut to top Cosmai 7-6, 7-2, 7-5. The other defeats came from Kavaloski, Posillico and Nick Borak, all in straight sets.
With the loss, the Rams have dropped five out of their last six. They make the short trip to Long Island, New York to take on the undefeated Hofstra Pride on Sunday at 3 p.m.
