Box Score (PDF)
PHILADELPHIA – The George Mason University men's tennis team (11-9, 4-2) wrapped up an important weekend in the Atlantic 10 in perfect fashion, sweeping Saint Joseph's 4-0 on Hawk Hill Sunday afternoon.
It marked the third conference victory of the weekend for the Patriots, who also upended La Salle and Duquesne in close 4-3 contests on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Mason has now won six matches in a row with just one contest remaining ahead of the Atlantic 10 Championship.
"This was an awesome weekend of matches for us," head coach Jimmy Davis said. "The guys played so mentally and physically tough against three strong opponents back to back to back. We got stronger as a team this weekend and we're hungry to continue improving and see what we can make happen at A-10s. We're excited to get back to work."
Mason won two out of three doubles matches to begin the day with a 1-0 advantage. At No. 1, graduate student
Pally Ray and sophomore
Ryan Charles got things started with a solid 6-3 triumph over SJU's Perrone/Kancthar combo. Then at No. 3, graduate student
Giuliano Buzoianu and junior
Edward Ayers won a 6-4 match to clinch the point.
In singles, Ray remained locked in while grabbing a victory at No. 2 He won his first set over Andre Fick, 6-3, then held on for a 7-6 win in the second, including a 7-4 triumph in the tiebreaker. Ray has now won three of his past four singles matches.
Ayers then stepped up at No. 1 and delivered against Perrone. After dropping his opening frame, 6-3, Ayers rebounded to win the second 6-4. Then, in the third, he converted break points when he needed to en route to a 6-3 win.
The clinching point came courtesy of a red-hot Nielsen, who has now won 10 of his past 12 singles duals. Nielsen was not phased by a tough 6-7 loss in the first set (8-6 tiebreaker), bouncing back to take the second, 6-3. Then in his third against Massart of SJU, Nielsen cruised 6-3 to clinch the match for the Green & Gold.
The Patriots wrap up the regular season Friday with a 1 p.m. contest at Richmond.
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