Match Results
St. Mary's City, Md. – In dramatic fashion, the St. Mary's College of Maryland men's tennis team upset Salisbury University in Capital Athletic Conference action Wednesday afternoon, pulling out a 5-4 victory over the visiting Sea Gulls for the program's first-ever win against Salisbury. Salisbury, who is ranked ninth in the Atlantic South region, entered the match boasting a 22-0 record in the all-time series history.
Fifth-year head coach Derek Sabedra exclaimed, "This is a momentous win in St. Mary's men's tennis history and I cannot be more proud than I am now, especially the way the team pulled through."
Assistant coach Giac Tran, who has been on the coaching staff for the past five seasons, echoed Sabedra's sentiments.
The win moves St. Mary's (8-6, 3-1 CAC) into second place of the league standings while Salisbury (10-5, 3-2 CAC) drops to third. Eleven-time CAC champion, No. 23 University of Mary Washington, currently leads the pack with an 11-8 (6-0 CAC) record.
First-year Jay Guzzone (Columbia, Md./Hammond) notched the decisive win at No. 5 singles as Guzzone picked up a 6-3, 6-3 over first-year Paul Berryman (Frederick, Md./Walkersville) despite battling a knee injury during the second set.
St. Mary's headed into singles action with a 2-1 advantage after claiming wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles by the tandems of sophomore Arvin Wong (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman)/first-year Andrew Gear (Westminster, Md./Winters Mill) and junior Robbie Bourdon (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown)/sophomore Kyle Feeley (Baltimore, Md./Mount Saint Joseph), respectively.
Salisbury tied up the match with sophomore Henry Stuhler's (Bay Head, N.J./Point Pleasant Beach) 6-3, 6-2 win over Wong at the first singles flight. The Sea Gulls then took the lead as senior Evan Clifton (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) notched a 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 win over Bourdon at No. 6 singles.
Gear deadlocked the match once again as he recorded his ninth straight singles victory with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) over junior Justin Smith (New Windsor, Md./Francis Scott Key) at No. 2 singles. Junior Curtis Quandt (Kent Island, Md./Kent Island) then returned the lead to Salisbury with a 7-5, 6-0 over first-year John Feighner (Laurel, Md./Atholton) at the third singles flight.
Feeley set up Guzzone's decisive match as he registered a straight-set triumph over senior Arthur Jackson (Ridgely, Md./North Caroline) at No. 4 singles. Feeley overcame a 3-0 deficit in the first set to stake a 7-5 victory before rallying from a 2-1 setback in the second to claim a 6-3 win.
The Seahawks will return to action on Friday, April 8 as St. Mary's travels to Frederick to take on CAC foe, Hood College, in league action at 3:00 pm.
