Box Score (PDF)

ORLANDO, Fla. – George Mason University men's tennis freshman Carter Bradford wrapped up an outstanding rookie campaign with wins in both singles and doubles to pace the Patriots in a first round A-10 Championship matchup against Saint Joseph's Thursday.  
 
Under the sunny and warm skies of the USTA National Campus, the Patriots fought in a lengthy match that came close to surpassing four hours. Mason won the doubles point, but could not quite get over the hump in singles, as the Hawks won the four matches necessary to take the contest, 4-2.
 
"I'm proud of the guys for their fight today," head coach Jimmy Davis said. "They gave it everything they had, but credit to Saint Joseph's for stepping up and beating us on some key points. We beat SJU while saving two match points last week, so we came into this knowing it was a battle. Unfortunately, we didn't come out on top of those big points today."
 
Mason rocketed out of the gates to start the match. The Patriots' No. 3 doubles team of senior Giuliano Buzoianu and Bradford picked up a key late break in their match to win 7-5 and start off the day on a strong note. That duo won three of their final four dual doubles matches together this season to help Mason finish the dual season on point.
 
At No. 1, seniors Daniel Gutierrez and Pally Ray also kept their positive late season momentum going by grabbing a 6-4 win to clinch the point for the Green & Gold. They won four of their final six doubles contests and wrapped up the dual season with a 6-3 mark together.
 
Elsewhere, sophomores Edward Ayers and Jakob Nielsen led 6-5 in their doubles match when it was called at clinch time.
 
Moving on to singles, powerful SJU No. 1 Tim Stierle put together one of his best matches of the season while taking down Ayers, 6-2, 6-4. Ayers broke Stierle to take a 4-3 lead in the second set, but Stierle broke back on the ensuing service game to take control of the match.
 
Then, at No. 5, Massart of SJU won 6-4, 6-4, over Ray to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead.
 
Mason answered back after another excellent singles performance from Bradford at No. 4. The Saudi Arabia native was clearly not affected by the steamy temperatures in Orlando, as the freshman won in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4. He showed great poise, coming right back after a couple service breaks to break back and ensure he kept control of the match. Bradford ends his first Mason season with an outstanding 16-6 dual singles mark, 5-3 A-10 record and 20-8 singles mark overall.
 
From there, SJU went up 3-2 after Andre Fick came out on top after a lengthy slobberknocker at No. 2 with senior Daniel Gutierrez. Gutierrez built an early 4-1 advantage in the first set and held on to take it, 6-4. In the second, the two student-athletes played neck-and-neck for most of the set, until Fick grabbed a key break late to take the frame, 6-4. Fick then came out on top in the third, 6-3.
 
Mason then needed to win the final two matches, but could not complete the task.
 
At No. 6, senior Giuliano Buzoianu won his first set (6-4) after a late service break by the Romanian. But Janko of SJU won the second set 6-0 and took the third 6-3 to clinch the victory for the Hawks.
 
Ongoing at the time of conclusion, Nielsen was in a dead heat with SJU's Peter Dewitt at No. 3. Nielsen won the first set, 6-4, then dropped the second, 7-6. Nielsen held a 6-5 edge in the third set before it was called.
 
Mason now heads to its offseason with a lot to build on. Despite having three seniors, two of those three will return for a fifth year and the Patriots welcome back six of their top seven players overall.
 
Mason will bid farewell to Gutierrez, who served as a leader and stellar member of the Green & Gold for four years. A banner student-athlete in every sense of the word, Gutierrez held down the No. 2 singles position for much of the year and was a key part of the Patriots' top doubles team. In addition, Gutierrez is a three-time Provost Scholar Athlete and will graduate in May with a degree in system engineering.
 
"A special thanks to Daniel for everything he's done for us over his four years as a Patriot," Davis said. "We're sad we couldn't get it done for him today. We're more motivated than ever for next season, and we are going to work as hard as we can to come back even stronger. We have some fresh new faces and will be privileged to have returners with another key year of experience."
 
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