After suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Bucknell Bison on February 18th in Quakertown, PA, the Hofstra Pride men’s tennis team appeared to be getting their second straight loss when the Bloomsburg Huskies swept the Pride in doubles, taking the lead 1-0 the next day. However, Hofstra makes an outstanding comeback by winning 5 singles matches and losing one to beat Bloomsburg 5-2. During Saturday’s match with Bucknell, players on Hofstra were anxious to play this game since it was the first match of the spring season. Unfortunately, only the freshman, Ari Richman, got Hofstra’s only victory in the 6-1 loss to Bucknell. From the start, the Bison took control of the match by sweeping the Pride in doubles. Bison’s Josh Katten and Kelly Marque were the first doubles team to finish their match as they downed Pride’s Matthew Gemmell and Pedro Gimenez at No. 2 doubles 8-2. Bucknell’s Kyle Rosen and Scott Bernstein finished next after defeating Hofstra Laurent Octobre and Ryhann Gill 8-4 at No. 3 doubles. No. 1 doubles finished last as Bison’s Evan Zimmer and Gregg Cohenca battled Pride’s Ari Richman and Antonio Pena and managed to squeeze out the win 8-6. In singles play, Gregg Cohenca took the win at No. 1 singles beating Antonio Pena 6-3, 6-1 and Evan Zimmer followed up with a win as well at No. 3 singles against Matthew Gemmell 6-3, 6-2. Ari Richman managed to temporarily stop Bucknell’s momentum as he won a close match against Octano Canibe at No. 2 singles, 7-6(4), 6-4 and earned Hofstra’s first point causing the score to be 3-1. However, the Bison quickly regained momentum and proceeded to finish the match by taking out the Pride’s No. 4, 5, and 6 singles. Bucknell’s Josh Katten downed Hofstra’s Pedro Gimenez 6-2, 6-2, followed by Kelly Marque beating Jason Sinkoff 7-6(2), 6-0, and Kyle Rosen defeating Laurent Octobre 6-2, 6-0 respectively. The Hofstra Pride would continue to play in Quakertown, Pennsylvania the next day against the Bloomsburg Huskies. The Hofstra Pride would start this match just like the match against the Bucknell Bison by losing 1-0 after being swept in doubles play against the Bloomsburg Huskies. Mark Schroeder and Andres Prince got the first win in doubles play for the Huskies by making quick work of Pride’s Laurent Octobre and Ryhann Gill at No. 3 doubles 8-2. Tyler Pultro and Jeff Nuhfer secured the doubles point for Bloomsburg by beating Hofstra’s Pedro Gimenez and Matthew Gemmell at No. 2 doubles 8-3. Ricky Dove and Mike DiSanto won as well for Bloomsburg defeating Hofstra’s Antonio Pena and Ari Richman at No. 1 doubles 8-4. After the losing the doubles point, Hofstra’s Head Coach Philip Wayne brought his team together for a motivational speech. “We may have lost the doubles point but we all know we are better than these guys,” said the Pride Head Coach. “Let’s try to regain our focus and take them out in all the singles matches.” That’s almost exactly what the Pride did as they proceeded to take the first 3 singles matches. Matthew Gemmell finished first as he tied the game by beating Huskies’ Mike DiSanto 6-4, 6-4 at No. 3 singles. Antonio Pena gave Hofstra its first lead in the match defeating Jeff Nuhfer 6-1, 6-4 at No. 2 singles causing to go up 2-1. Ari Richman helped Hofstra build the lead to 3-1 by beating Bloomsburg’s Ricky Dove 6-2, 6-4 at No. 1 singles. However, Bloomsburg seemed to regain their composure as Huskies’ Tyler Pultro won at No. 4 singles defeating Pride’s Pedro Gimenez 6-4, 6-4. At No. 5 singles, Pride’s Laurent Octobre clinched the win for Hofstra by successfully battling and conquering Evan Carney 7-5, 6-4. Hofstra’s Jason Sinkoff secured a win in the last match of the day as he downed Bloomsburg’s Andres Prince 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6 singles. The Hofstra Pride is now 2-2 for the year and will play the St. Francis College Terriers next week on February 26.
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