Bonnies go 1-1 in D.C., down GW
4/02/05

St. Bonaventure went 1-1 over the weekend in Washington D.C., losing to American 6-1 but defeating A-10 rival George Washington 4-3. The Bonnies record moves to 11-9.  The Bonnies were again led by senior Mario Arce  (pictured) who upped his season total to 28 wins including two over nationally ranked players.    

Against American, the Bonnies played just their third outdoor match of the year and first since their spring break trip to South Carolina.  In doubles, Arce and senior Nikhil Murali were 8-3 winners, but American responded and defeated the other two Bona teams.  At #2 doubles, sophomores Alejandro Nery and Andrew Hart were defeated 8-4 and sophomore Dejan Stankovic and freshman Antonio Farias were defeated 8-3 at #3.

In singles, the Bonnies were competitive in many matches despite the outdoor conditions.  However, each of the Bonnies dropped straight set decisions aside from Arce who scored a 3-set victory at #1, making the final score 6-1 in favor of American.

The next day, the Bonnies faced conference foe George Washington, a team that came to the SBU Fitness Centre and beat the Bonnies 5-2 last year and the Bonnies looked to return the favor with a big A-10 road victory of their own this year.  In doubles, the duo of Hart and Nery scored a tight 8-6 victory at #2, but the #3 duo of Stankovic and Farias dropped their match 8-3 shortly after.  The doubles point would come down to a hotly-contested match at #1 with Arce and Murali battling back from a service break down to clinch the doubles point with a 9-7 victory.

In singles, Arce completed a perfect weekend with a straight-set victory at #1 to put the Bonnies up 2-0.  Hart continued his strong play this season with a straight-set victory at #4 to give the Bonnies a commanding 3-0 lead.  However, Murali dropped a straight-set decision at #3 to cut the Bonnie lead to 3-1 with Nery, Stankovic and senior Sajeel Qureshi remaining on court.  Shortly after, Nery lost his match in straight sets at #2 and GW had closed the gap to 3-2.  Qureshi also lost in straight sets at #6 and GW had tied the match at 3-3 with Stankovic remaining on court.  Stankovic, who clinched a 4-3 victory over UB two weeks earlier, repeated his heroics with a straight-set victory to give the Bonnies the victory.

 LOOKING AHEAD

The Bonnies will now travel to Monroeville, PA for the Atlantic 10 Championships hosted by Duquesne University beginning on 4/8.  The tournament winner will win the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tennis championships in May.  The Bonnies have won the title in two of the last four years with a 3rd place finish last year.  The Bonnies will enter the tournament with a 3-1 conference record and expect to be a threat for the title again this year.