Oct. 27, 2008

The Patriots faced off against Hofstra University in the final match of the fall season and came up just short, losing 4-3. Mason won four out of the nine matches on the day with two coming by default and one loss coming from retirement.

With Hofstra University only bringing five players they were forced to forfeit No.3 doubles and No. 6 singles. Imran Nayeem got two wins by default and secured a 1-0 lead for Mason. Nayeem's partner, Arjun Sanghvi, played his singles match at the No.5 position and scored one of the three points the Patriots would score on the day, winning 6-1, 6-1. Sanghvi played, arguably, the best tennis of the fall right when it counted as his shots were accurate and powerful.

With the Sanghvi and Nayeem going undefeated on the day and locking up two points, Brian Fitzgerald's single match was where the third point came from. Fitzgerald won 6-1, 6-3 at the No.1 singles position. Fitzgerald showed his great desire to win by dictating the pace against his opponent and mixing up his slices with his forehands and backhands. Fitzgerald left no inch of the court undocumented as he covered the court very well and got around his opponent's shots to punish him with his forehand.

Unfortunately for the Patriots these were the only matches they would win and with Jorge Osuna and Zack Schneider finding themselves on the injured list coming into today's match, both Dan Schneider and Jordan Lipstock found themselves having to fight thru the pain in all of their matches. Lipstock aggravated his right shoulder in the second set after losing the first one, 6-2. In the second set Lipstock looked as if he was going to force it to a third set, but his shoulder became too much to overcome as he lost 7-6 and 7-4 in the tiebreaker.

Dan Schneider suffered a right calf cramp and a rolled ankle all in the second set of his singles match. This greatly affected his stroke, giving his shot no foundation on which to hit. With the match within his grasp up one set, 7-5, and on his way to his second, 4-3, Schneider became plagued by the lack of mobility and strength and dropped the second set 6-4. Before the third set had started, Schneider resigned himself to rest up for his doubles match.

The last singles match to be mention is the No.3 singles with Mason's own Lee Wexler. Wexler struggled to find an equilibrium to his game and found himself victim of a 6-0, 6-1 loss. Wexler showed great shots by his forehand and his backhand, but could not keep it at a consistent rate to take the match.

With the score 3-3 going into the doubles action it was where all the marbles were left. Neither pair of Fitzgerald and Schneider or Wexler and Lipstock came in at 100%, but neither wanted to lose. The duo of Wexler and Lipstock saw unforced errors plague them thru out their match and lost 8-2. With one doubles match to be decided it all came down to Fitzgerald and Schneider. Schneider playing with the ankle injury still got shots to fall in, but the Patriots duo would eventually fall, losing 8-6. With Schneider's and Fitzgerald's match over so was the match.

Singles
No.1 - Brian Fitzgerald (Mason) def. Nenad Radakovic (Hofstra) 6-1, 6-3
No.2 - Stian Tvedt (Hofstra) def. Dan Schneider (Mason) 5-7, 6-4, ret.
No.3 - Titus Stempneiwicz (Hofstra) def. Lee Wexler (Mason) 6-0, 6-1
No.4 - Matt Wacks (Hofstra) def. Jordan Lipstock (Mason) 6-2, 7-6(7-4)
No.5 - Arjun Sanghvi (Mason) def. Eric Gladstone (Hofstra) 6-1, 6-1
No.6 - Imran Nayeem (Mason) wins by default
Doubles
No.1 - Stempneiwicz/Tvedt (Hofstra) def. Fitzgerald/Schneider (Mason) 8-6
No.2 - Radakovic/Wacks (Hofstra) def.  Wexler/Lipstock (Mason) 8-2
No.3 - Nayeem/Sanghvi (Mason) win by default