St. Mary's City, Md. – Senior J. Guzzone's (Columbia, Md./Hammond) three-set victory at No. 4 singles propelled the St. Mary's College of Maryland men's tennis team to their fourth straight appearance in the semifinals of the Capital Athletic Conference Men's Tennis Championship Tournament.
No. 4 seed St. Mary's (6-8) tallied a 5-4 victory over fifth-seeded York College of Pennsylvania (6-9) in first round action Saturday afternoon thanks to Guzzone's 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 triumph. The Seahawks had posted a 6-3 win over York during the regular season on March 22nd.
The Seahawks will now face top-seeded University of Mary Washington in the semifinals on Wednesday, April 22nd. St. Mary's last met the Eagles in the CAC semifinals in 2011, falling 9-0 to UMW. This season, Mary Washington notched a 7-2 win over the Seahawks on April 17th.
Senior captain Andrew Gear (Westminster, Md./Winters Mill) and sophomore Mark Hardesty (Westminster, Md./Westminster) gave the Seahawks the early 1-0 lead with an 8-1 win at No. 1 doubles. York, however, headed into singles action with a 2-1 advantage following 8-5 and 9-7 victories in the next two doubles matches.
St. Mary's went up 4-2 behind three consecutive singles wins. Gear earned a win at No. 1 singles following senior Tyler Cheatham's (Westminster, Md./Westminster) retirement in the first set with Gear leading 5-0. Hardesty then posted a straight set victory at the second flight, dropping only three games.
Senior John Feighner (Laurel, Md./Atholton) rallied from a 3-0 deficit to pick up a 7-5 win in the first set before falling 6-0 in the second to junior Daniel Erk (Leonardtown, Md./Leonardtown) at No. 3 singles. Feighner then grinded out a 7-5 victory to give the Seahawks a two-point lead.
First-year Kaltrin Bullaj (Glen Rock, Pa./Susquehannock) pulled the Spartans within 4-3 with his 6-4, 6-3 at No. 5 singles followed by sophomore Zach Hanson's (New Freedom, Pa./Susquehannock) 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 6 singles to even up the match at 4-all.
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