Oct. 6, 2007

The La Salle men's tennis team hit the road for a trip up north to face Atlantic 10 conference foe University of Rhode Island on Saturday. The blue and gold faced an uphill battle from the get-go on a steamy and humid October afternoon. The Explorers were unable to get on the scoreboard in singles but amidst the tough competition came a fulfilling victory from La Salle in doubles.

The lone bright spot on the afternoon came at number two doubles, where the dynamic duo of Ryan Knarr and Andy Petrusky teamed up to take down the Rams, 8-6, in a match that was highly contested right down to the very last point. Between Petrusky's powerful serving and Knarr's charismatic net play the duo was able to give the Explorer faithful something to cheer about early in the afternoon. At number one doubles, the Explorers team of George Gennaoui and Jon Maula nearly pulled off the upset, but weren't able to fight off the strong Rams duo of Jeff Cote and Jared Dorfman, falling just short by a score of 8-6. At number three doubles, Matt Rivera and Eric Glick were fended off by Rhode Island's Adam Gart and James McGuire, 8-3.

"I was very proud of our #2 doubles team today," said assistant coach Edward Colfer Sr., "They've played very well these past two matches and have really meshed well together. I think their play will only continue to improve together throughout the rest of the season and into the spring."

In singles, the Rams showed their depth and talent by defeating the Explorers in dominating fashion. The upset of the day was almost served up by number one singles player George Gennaoui, who faced a tall task in every sense of the word. Gennaoui faced off against URI's 6'9 giant Henrik Almstrom from Sweden, who was able to command the matches first set, winning 6-1. In the second set, Gennaoui went blow-for-blow, serving Almstrom until 5-6, when Gennaoui pulled out all the stops breaking the Swede to take the set 7-5. The two entered a third- set super tie breaker which was decided when Gennaoui double-faulted and Alstrom followed capitalized on match point with a second serve ace to win the match. At numbers two through four, the Rams made quick work of the Explorers, winning all three matches in just under an hour. At number five, Andrew Costin defeated Ryan Knarr, 6-1, 6-1, while A.J. Nelson downed La Salle's Christopher Butera at number six, 6-2, 6-0.

"Today we saw what it was like to play team that has a lot of depth and high level of play throughout their lineup," said head coach Ed Colfer. "Rhode Island always fields a great team year in and year out .We're headed in that direction as a team and I think it's just a matter of time before we'll be able to give teams like this a run for their money. Andy and Ryan showed us a glimpse of that today, winning at number two doubles."

Doubles

Cote/Dorfman (URI)  def. Maula/Gennaoui,  8-6

Knarr/Petrusky (LSU) def. Simmons/ Costin, 8-6

McGuire/Gart (URI) def. Glick/Rivera, 8-3

Singles

Henrik Almstrom (URI) def. George Gennaoui, 6-1, 5-7 (11-9)

Jared Dorfman (URI) def. Matt Rivera, 6-2, 6-1

Jeff Cote (URI) def. Eric Glick, 6-2, 6-1

Adam Gart (URI) def. Jonathan Maula, 6-1, 6-2

Andrew Costin (URI)  def. Ryan Knarr, 6-1, 6-1

A.J. Nelson (URI) def. Christopher Butera, 6-2, 6-0