DUMFRIES, Va. (Feb. 13, 2011) – George Mason surged past the Saint Francis University men's tennis team, 7-0, at the Monclair Country Club on Saturday. The match was the first of a two-stop weekend road trip that wraps up at St. Bonaventure on Sunday.

“Our men have gained a lot of confidence since competing against Navy and UMBC,” said SFU coach Paul Tobin. “It was a very good matchup but we could not close out any matches. I was disappointed because we had so many chances and the scores were so tight.”

Elahn Pogue (St. Catherines, Ontario/West Park) and Nathaniel Fleming saw their two-match win streak at No. 1 doubles snapped with an 8-6 setback to Mason's Jorge Osuna and Taylor Sargent. The SFU pair was 6-5, but lost two service games and could not hold.

At No.2 doubles, Kirby Mendez and Youlian Natchev (Sofia, Bulgaria/Rovel College) teamed up for the first time but dropped a tough, 8-6, to Kevin McMillen and Chris Borden. Stephen Kowalski (Toms River, NJ/Toms River East) and Andres Rosa (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Colegio la Piedad) were also a first-time pairing at No. 3 doubles but suffered an 8-2 setback.

Pogue and Rosa – who was competing in his first match of the season – were handed a couple of tough losses at No. 1 and No. 2 singles respectively. The No. 3-6 spots, however, featured some closer scores.

Fleming came close to beating Jordan Borsansi at No. 3 but ended up falling 7-5, 6-1. At one point, Fleming had set point but could not finish the break.

Kowalski played the closest match of the day in the No. 4 spot, but lost 7-5, 7-5 to GMU's Sergeant. Wielding the fifth racket, Mendez dropped another close match 7-5, 6-4 to lefty Chris Burden.

The day's only three-setter came from Youlian Natchev (Sofia, Bulgaria/Rovel College) in the No. 6 spot. Natchev won the first set 7-5 but wasn't able hold off Sam Coster who ended up winning the last two sets 6-1 and 6-3.


George Mason 7, Saint Francis 0
Doubles
1. Osuna/Sargent (Mason) def. E. Pogue/N. Flemming 8-6
2. McMillen/Borden (Mason) def. K. Mendes/Y. Natchev 8-6
3. Hyre/Phaup (Mason) def. S. Kowalski/A. Rosa 8-2

Singles
1. Osuna (Mason) def. E. Pogue 6-2 6-4
2. McMillen (Mason) def. A. Rosa 6-0 6-0
3. Borasanyi (Mason) def. N. Flemming 7-5 6-0
4. Sargent (Mason) def. S. Kowalski 7-5 7-5
5. Borden(Mason) def. K. Mendes 7-5 6-0
6. Coster (Mason) def. Y. Natchev 5-7 6-1 6-2