St. Mary's City, Md. – Sophomore J. Guzzone (Columbia, Md./Hammond) notched the decisive point at No. 6 singles to lift the St. Mary's College of Maryland men's tennis team to a 5-4 Capital Athletic Conference victory over the visiting Salisbury University Sea Gulls Friday evening on Senior Day.
Guzzone's 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) triumph over sophomore Demetri Vrahnos (Plainsboro, N.J./West Windsor Plainsboro) gave the Seahawks their second consecutive win over Salisbury. Today's victory followed last year's 5-4 win that snapped St. Mary's 22-0 losing streak against the Sea Gulls.
With the win, St. Mary's (16-3, 5-1 CAC) secures the second seed and a first-round bye in the 2012 CAC Men's Tennis Championship Tournament which begins April 21st with first-round action.
Guzzone and sophomore John Feighner (Laurel, Md./Atholton) gave St. Mary's a 1-0 lead with their 8-3 win at No. 3 doubles. Salisbury (8-8, 5-2 CAC) responded with an 8-3 victory at No. 1 doubles to knot the match at 1-1.
The Seahawks headed into singles action with a 2-1 advantage as senior captain Thomas Hoesman (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) and junior Kyle Feeley (Baltimore, Md./Mount Saint Joseph) picked up an 8-6 triumph at No. 2 doubles.
Sophomore Andrew Gear (Westminster, Md./Winters Mill) broke his own single-season singles wins record as Gear tallied his 20th win of the season with a 6-4, 6-1 triumph at No. 1 singles. He also surpassed the career singles wins record of 38 set by Jason Whiteman '99 as Gear is now 39-5 in his two years as a Seahawk.
First-year Daniel Albers (Denville, N.J./Morris Knolls) closed the gap for Salisbury to 3-2 with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 win at No. 2 singles and then junior Adam Goldberger (Burtonsville, Md./Paint Branch) recorded a 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 triumph at the third flight to tie the match at 3-3.
Feeley put the Seahawks ahead 4-3 with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 win at No. 4 singles before Guzzone registered the decisive win. Senior Justin Smith (New Windsor, N.Y./Francis Scott Key) tallied Salisbury's fourth point with a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory at No. 5 singles.
Prior to the start of the match, Hoesman and senior Elliot Russell (Freeport, Maine/Freeport) were honored for their four years of service to the Seahawk men's tennis program.
St. Mary's will be back in action on Sunday, April 15 as the Seahawks welcome Stevenson University to the Somerset Tennis Complex for the final regular-season conference match of the season at 12:00 pm.
