April 20, 2005

BRONX, NY (April 19, 2005) - The Sacred Heart men's tennis team battled their way to a 4-3 win at Fordham University Tuesday afternoon in their final preperation for this weekend's Northeast Conference Championship. The Pioneers end the dual match season with a record of 8-9.

SHU opened the match by taking the doubles point on the strength of wins at #2 and #3 doubles. Juniors Peter George (Lynnfield, MA) and Alex Kantarelis (Worcester, MA) notched an 8-5 win over Peter Zipf and Ben Ehrman and were followed by sophomore Kevin Guidicipietro (Mountainside, NJ) and junior Kevin Teague (Yonkers, NY) who posted an 8-5 win over Sean Kennedy and Pat Pearson.

George followed his doubles win with a 6-4 win in the first set over Zipf. Leading 4-1 in the second, George won the match by default. Guidicipietro won his match with a straight set, 6-0, 6-0, victory over Pearson at #6 singles.

Freshman Joseph Merendino (Bronx, NY), playing in his hometown, came up with a big comeback against Ben Ehrman that clinched the match for the Pioneers. Merendino dropped the first set 6-4, but rebounded with a 6-4 win in set two and clinched it with a 7-6 win, 8-6 in the tiebreaker, to take the point.

The Pioneers will be the #3 seed in this weekend's NEC Championship, taking on #6 seed Fairleigh Dickinson on Friday morning. SHU beat the Knights 5-2 earlier this month.

Sacred Heart 4 -- Fordham 3

Singles:

1. Mike Rosado (FU) def. Jared Dye (SH) 6-2, 6-1

2. Peter George (SH) def. Pete Zipf (FU) 6-4, 4-1 (default)

3. Phil Bednarczyk (FU) def. Alex Kantarelis (SH) 6-2, 6-2

4. Joseph Merendino (SH) def. Ben Ehrman (FU) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6)

5. Sean Kennedy (FU) def. Chris McDonnell (SH) 6-1, 6-4

6. Kevin Guidicipietro (SH) def. Pat Pearson (FU) 6-0, 6-0

Doubles:

1. Rosado/Bednarczyk (FU) def. Dye/Merendino (SH) 8-0

2. George/Kantarelis (SH) def. Zipf/Ehrman (FU) 8-5

3. Guidicipietro/Kevin Teague (SH) def. Kennedy/Pearson (FU) 8-5

SHU (8-9)

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