University of Connecticut Athletics
Men's Tennis Falls to Fairfield, 4-3
4/6/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
STORRS, Conn. (April 6) -- Joey Michaels and Christian Malerba won in both singles and doubles but the University of Connecticut men's tennis team lost a tight, 4-3, match against Fairfield on Thursday afternoon at the UConn Tennis Courts in Storrs. The Huskies dip to 3-10 on the spring with the loss while the Stags won their eighth straight match to improve to 9-6.
For just the third time this year, UConn took the doubles point to open play. Nate Carvalho and Joel Gamoran fought hard for a 9-8 win at the No. 2 position, building upon an 8-5 victory at No. 3 by the tandem of Michaels and Malerba. The Stags won four of the six singles matches though to claim the overall team win. A hotly decided contest, four of the six singles matches needed a third set. UConn's wins came from Michaels and Malerba. Michaels beat Chip Palumbo, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, at No. 3 while Malerba downed Zack Morrison, 6-1, 0-6, 6-4, at No. 4. The match was tied 3-3 and was settled at No. 5 singles where Fairfield's Balazs Szikla won each of the final three games for a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 win over Ben Scheuler.
The Huskies return to action on Saturday when they travel to New York to face St. John's at noon.
Fairfield 4, Connecticut 3
Singles No. 1 Jon Fernando (F) def. Sho Sato (C), 6-3, 6-4 No. 2 Steve Kouri (F) def. Craig Helstowski (C), 6-1, 6-1
No. 3 Joey Michaels (C) def. Chip Palumbo (F), 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 No. 4 Christian Malerba (C) def. Zack Morrison (F), 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 No. 5 Balazs Szikla (F) def. Ben Scheuler (C), 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 No. 6 Glen Gannon (F) def. Nate Carvalho (C), 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 Doubles: No. 1 Fernando/Gannon (F) def. Sato/Scheuler (C), 9-8 No. 2 Carvahlo/Joel Gamoran (C) def. Kouri/Palumbo (F), 9-8 No. 3 Michaels/Malerba (C) def. Morrison/Szikla (F), 8-5
Players Mentioned
