University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Sacred Heart
Huskies Split; Fall to SHU and Beat Holy Cross
10/13/2019 8:06:00 PM | Men's Tennis
STORRS, Conn. – The UConn men's tennis team played a pair of home dual matches on Sunday, facing state rival Sacred Heart and Holy Cross on the UConn Tennis Courts in Storrs. The Huskies lost a tough fought 4-3 decision to the Pioneers in the morning match but rebounded to beat Holy Cross, 4-1, for a split on the day.
"I was so pleased that Sacred Heart and Holy Cross brought very competitive, very feisty teams to play us today," commented associate head coach Christian Appleman. "Regardless of the score, our composure and professionalism on the court, for the most part, was much better today than in previous weeks. These competitive matches are definitely helping us get closer where we need to be mentally and technically for the spring season."
In the opening match with SHU, the Huskies grabbed the 1-0 lead thanks to taking the doubles point. SHU won at No. 3 but the Huskies rallied to take the point on courts 1 and 2. Junior John Michael Holtmann (Coral Gables, Fla.) and sophomore Christian Provenzano (Montclair, N.J.) posted a 6-4 win over Seiji Hosokawa and William Wibmber and the No. 2 team of junior Yili Zheng (Shanghai, China) and freshman Rami Scheetz (Cedar Rapids, Ia.) clinched it.
The duo dealt Kevin Chao and Ayman Khan a 6-4 defeat. The Pioneers answered the bell in singles play, winning four of the six matches to edge out a 4-3 win. UConn's Zheng notched a win at No. 3 over Chao, 6-3 and 6-4. The other UConn win came from freshman Alex Yu (Nanjing, China) beat Omar Abdo, 7-5 and 6-4.
UConn came back in the afternoon match against Holy Cross and used a strong doubles performance again to help set the tone. Provenzano and Holtmann won their second match of the day by beating Will Kaiser and Matthew Murphy, 6-0 at No. 1. The point was clinched by Zheng and Scheetz who also won again, beating Will Chen and Alexander Ruenhorst, 6-4.
In singles, the Huskies clinched the match at their top-three spots. Scheetz won at No. 2 over Kaiser, 6-2 and 6-2. Zheng made it a perfect afternoon, winning his second match of the day by beating Connor Nelson at No. 3, 6-1 and 6-3.
Holtmann closed it out, clinching the match thanks to a 6-3, 7-6 (4) win over Chen in the top spot.
The Huskies are back in action this coming week with players headed to the ITA Regional Championship being held at Penn on October 17-20.
Players Mentioned
