Men's Tennis Suffers First Setback

MILTON, Mass. – The Suffolk University men's tennis team took a 3-0 lead after doubles play and never looked back, en route to an 8-1 win over Wentworth in a non-conference contest played at Curry College.

The Rams took the first two doubles flights, 8-4, and 8-5, before the Leopards' third flight of sophomores Thuan Nguyen (Randolph, Mass.) and Andy Chen (New Taipei City, Taiwan) forced a tiebreaker, but fell but a 9-8 (7-3) score.

In singles play, junior Juan Rodriguez (Quito, Ecuador) picked up Wentworth's lone point on the afternoon with a straight-set (6-2, 6-0) win at number one. Senior Nate Gove (Scarborough, Maine) and junior Dave Filar (Wolcott, Conn.) each had close matches, while freshman Dylan Melnik (Wake Forest, N.C.) dropped a three-set (6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (7-3)) match at number six singles.

The Leopards suffered their first loss of the season and host Curry on Saturday at Harvard University.

Suffolk 8, Wentworth 1

 Singles competition
1. Juan Rodriguez (WIT) def. Marc Winkler (SUF) 6-2, 6-0
2. Christopher Staley (SUF) def. Thuan Nguyen (WIT) 6-1, 6-0
3. Drew Reilly (SUF) def. Nate Gove (WIT) 6-3, 6-2
4. Harlan Strader (SUF) def. Joe Centola (WIT) 6-1, 6-3
5. Albert Buruga (SUF) def. Dave Filar (WIT) 6-3, 6-3
6. Vassili Stroganov (SUF) def. Dylan Melnik (WIT) 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (7-3)

 Doubles competition
1. Marc Winkler/Christopher Staley (SUF) def. Juan Rodriguez/Nate Gove (WIT) 8-4
2. Harlan Strader/Albert Buruga (SUF) def. Joe Centola/Dave Filar (WIT) 8-5
3. Vassili Stroganov/Dachuan Zhu (SUF) def. Thuan Nguyen/Andy Chen (WIT) 9-8 (7-3)

Match Notes:
Suffolk 2-0
Wentworth 2-1