Quinnipiac University
Niagara
QU Men's Tennis Hits the Road for Matches at Niagara and St. Bonaventure
3/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
On the Road Again
The Quinnipiac men's tennis team hits the road once again as they travel to Upstate New York for a pair of matches, beginning with a 1 P.M. clash in a conference match with the Niagara Purple Eagles on Saturday followed by 10 A.M. showdown with the St. Bonaventure Bonnies on Sunday.
Scouting the Purple Eagles
The Purple Eagles are just 3-6 this season coming into Saturday's match with the Bobcats, but Niagara is 1-0 in MAAC play. A 6-1 victory over the Saint Peter's Peacocks on March 22 gave the Purple Eagles their first conference win, as well as snapping a five-match losing streak that lasted from February 13 to March 22 when they knocked off the Peacocks. Olivier Dufour-Coursol has the best singles record on the team, going 10-4 and has posted four wins in dual matches where is 3-0 as the No. 2. David Raymond is second on the team in wins with a 6-11 record, primarily competing as the No. 4 where he is 3-3 in dual matches. Rares Ispas is 5-8 and has posted a 3-2 record at No. 5 singles. In doubles, Michael Elortegui and Inaki Belloso have combined to go 12-9 and have been 4-5 at No. 1 this season. Francis Nadeau and Rares are 5-9 overall and 3-6 at No. 3 doubles while Raymond and Dufour-Coursol are 10-4 and 2-1 at No. 2 doubles.
Scouting the Bonnies
St. Bonaventure has struggled this season, going 2-11 and are 0-1 to start A-10 play. The Bonnies are currently on a six-match losing streak, falling to Duquense last time out on March 21, 5-2. Hector Martinez leads the team in singles victories, posting an 8-11 record where he is 4-0 at No. 4 singles. Andrew Blair is second on the team in wins with a 7-12 record, mainly competing at No. 2 singles where he is 5-9. The lineup has been shuffled quite often, but Eduardo Irizarry is 4-11 at No. 1 singles this season, the most mates anyone has played at one spot. In doubles, Trevor Haskell and T.J. DeSanto are 5-13 to lead the Bonnies in wins, going 5-11 at No. 3 doubles. Irizarry and Blair are 4-8 when playing together, only seeing time at No. 1 doubles. Every other pair as one win or fewer.
Last Time Out
The Bobcats lost a tough match to the Bryant Bulldogs back on Saturday, March 21 in their only match since a spring break trip to Florida. Quinnipiac was right in every match as it came down to the conclusion of a singles match between No. 1's Kei Ezaka (Ojai, California) and Matt Kuhar to decide the outcome. Both Kyle Alper (Dix Hills, New York) and Willem van Biezen (Warmond, The Netherlands) won both of their matches in the contest, with the pair teaming up in an extra doubles match that did not count towards the result.
Together Again
Ezaka and Ryoma Haraguchi (New York, New York) teamed up at No. 1 doubles once again to pick up the only doubles win in the match. The pair played much of last season together in doubles play, picking up nine victories going 9-3 to lead the team in wins, including a 4-1 record in MAAC play and 5-3 record at No. 2 doubles.
Atop the Alps
Alper has been one of the winningest freshman so far this season for the Bobcats, picking up 22 wins so far for the Bobcats. He has particularly fared well in singles play, boasting a record of 16-5 to go with a 6-7 record in doubles. Alper's 16 singles wins rank first on the team while his 22 wins are tied for fourth.
King of Roses
Luke Roser (Bernardsville, New Jersey) has had an impressive junior season. He is already well on pace to set career highs in singles wins, doubles wins and overall wins. Currently, Roser is one singles win shy of his career high with 14 wins already this season while his eight doubles wins are two shy of his career high. Roser is also three wins shy of his 70th career victory.
Racking Up Wins
Rozenstein also leads the Bobcats in wins with 27 this season, picking up 13 each in singles and doubles play. Rozenstein is 13-6 in singles play as well as 14-9 in doubles to be near the top of the team lead in both categories.
MAAC Preseason Poll
The Bobcats were picked to finish third in the MAAC Men's Tennis Preseason Coaches' Poll after a fifth place finish in the regular season last season. Quinnipiac received 46 points in the poll, finished just behind Monmouth (61) picked to win the conference and Marist (55) picked to finish second.
What's Up Next?
The Bobcats will continue its road stretch on Wednesday, April 1 when they face the Sacred Heart Pioneers in Fairfield, Connecticut at 3:30 P.M. before returning to Quinnipiac to face the Fairfield Stags at home at 3 P.M. on Thursday, April 2 for their first match in Hamden since Sept. 23, 2014.
Players Mentioned
