MIDDLEBURY, Conn. – Sometimes all it takes is one to get on track, and for Post University Men's Tennis perhaps their conference win at home against Chestnut Hill College on Monday was what they needed to get going. Winning the doubles point for only the second time this season, the Eagles carried that momentum into four victories in the Singles to take the match, 5-2 over the Griffins for their second win in program history against them.
THE BASICS
Post University 5, Chestnut Hill College 2
Post University (1-8, 1-2 CACC)
Chestnut Hill College (6-4, 2-2 CACC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
While junior Dante Despontin and graduate student Gustavo Kerber rolled to their 6-3 win in the #2 Doubles over senior Joao Sousa and sophomore Tiago Lima, seniors Anton Anderson and Niklas Langenfeld would squander a 3-0 lead in the #1 Doubles against senior Noah Cutting and sophomore Antonio Franquis with a 6-3 defeat to set up a winner takes the doubles point in the #3 Doubles.
On that court, sophomores Josh Cronje and Tobias Strauss teamed up for a big win in tiebreaker fashion, 7-5, over sophomore Siddarth Malik and junior Menno Raemaekers to give Post only their second team point in the doubles this season.
In the early part of the singles, it looked like Chestnut Hill would be able to make up ground to take the victory back home to Philadelphia, but the Eagles would respond to the early Griffin momentum. While Andersson was dispatched of easily in the #1 Singles by Cutting, 6-1 and 6-4, Cronje brought Post within two wins of the victory with his #5 Singles win in straight sets, 6-2 and 6-3, over sophomore Marcello Bozzone.
Langenfeld would keep the good times rolling and break his winless streak in singles play with a pair of 6-3 set wins in the #4 Singles over Sousa as Post was one point away from their first win of the year. They would nearly get it with the next matchup finishing between Kerber and Franquis after the graduate student overcame a 6-4 loss in set one to win set two on a 7-4 tiebreaker point, 7-6, before falling in the third set of the #2 Singles 7-3 on tiebreaker point, 7-6 overall.
Not long after that, the win was complete as Despontin came back from one set down which he lost 7-3 in the tiebreaker point of the #3 Singles against Lima, winning sets two and three by scores of 7-5 and 6-1 respectively. Adding a cherry on top to the win was junior Ivan Kolchanov, who won his third singles match in his last four outings, 6-4 and 6-2, over freshman Filippo Relcom in the #6 Singles as Post won their first match of the year, 5-2.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Dante Despontin is now a team-best 7-2 in doubles matches this season and since teaming up with Gustavo Kerber has won four matches in a row
- Niklas Langenfeld snapped an 0-8 start to the season in the Singles with his win today
- With today's win, Post University snapped a nine-game losing streak dating back to last season's CACC Tournament loss to Chestnut Hill College, 4-3
- Post University is now 2-25 all-time against Chestnut Hill College with both of those wins coming in the last two seasons after dropping the first 20 matchups since the 2008-09 season
WHO'S NEXT
Post University wastes no time returning to action tomorrow afternoon with a road matchup against Dominican (N.Y.) scheduled for 3:00 PM in Orangeburg, New York. Since the 2021-22 season, the Eagles have gone 4-1 overall against the Chargers with wins in each of the last three matches they have faced off in.
