TEANECK, N.J. (March 25, 2013) – The Saint Francis University men's tennis team earned a 6-1 win over La Salle on Saturday before dropping its second game of the weekend, 7-0, to defending Northeast Conference champs Fairleigh Dickinson on Sunday.

Playing with a full lineup at La Salle, the Red Flash dominated both singles and doubles in very cold and windy conditions. Chris Jimenez (Bayside, N.Y./St. Francis Preparatory), moving to the sixth position, returned to action after four weeks off and immediately secured the win for Red Flash.

SFU came out strong in doubles, securing wins in all positions. The only close call came at the no. 2 position where Andres Rosa (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Colegio la Piedad) and Lawson Barter (Chicago, Ill./Loyola), up 6-2, allowed La Salle's Chas Berenato and Joe Lafate to break twice and hold to tie things up at 6-6. Fighting two match points at 7-6, SFU fought back bringing things to a tiebreaker. Red Flash kept the momentum going closing things out at 7-4.

“Great job securing the doubles point in tough conditions,” said coach Paul Tobin. “We did a great job adjusting to the cold and wind. We practiced the day before in these conditions and that gave us a jump start.”

SFU came out quickly, taking points in all singles positions except at no. 4. Juan Pardo (Bogota, Colombia/Colegio Andino), no. 5 for Saint Francis lost the first set 6-4 to La Salle's Tom Maclead, but quickly won the second set. Pushing a tiebreaker, Pardo closed out the win 10-5.

Red Flash no. 2, Andres Rosa (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Colegio la Piedad), easily took the first set 6-3 but found himself down 6-5 in the second against a determined DeSean Fennell. Fighting three set points, Rosa tied things up at 6-6. Down 5-1 in the tiebreaker, Rosa pulled off four points to even things up at 5-5. Rosa again found himself down two set points at 6-5, but managed to increase pace and closed out the set and match.

“Some players are doing very well adjusting to the conditions,” said Tobin. “This was a good win for the men, giving them the confidence to compete outside. In these conditions anything can happen and the better player may not always prevail.”

On Sunday, the Flash drew FDU for the first time during regular season.

Both teams came out strong in doubles pushing each other hard for the doubles point. Pardo and Jimenez at third doubles took the first win against the Knights' Yuri Gricheno and Markus Sjoberg. The Red Flash, already down a break at 2-2, managed to break twice to take a 5-2 lead. The Knights shot back to 5-4 but it was to late as both teams held at 7-5. Pardo, on serve finally closed out the match at 8-6.

SFU doubles duo Carvajal and Washi Gervais (Longueuil, Quebec/College Stanislas) at no. 1 was down 7-3 and two breaks down when they managed to hold and break at 7-5. Saving three match points, Carvajal ripped a return winner to close the gap at 7-6. With the Knights serving for the match and down 15-40, they clawed back to win 8-6.

“We were so close in taking the doubles point against the no. 1 team in the NEC,” said Tobin. “This men's team has come a long way in doubles and although I am disappointed we lost the point, I am proud of its performance.”

The Knights proved why they were the NEC Champions, sweeping all singles in straight sets. Carvajal, at no. 3 for SFU, put up the only fight against FDU's Yuri Grichino. Down 4-2 in the first set, Carvajal broke and quickly held bringing it to 4-4. Grichino broke back and managed to take the next two games bringing it to 6-4. Carvajal held at 6-5. Carvajal up two break points failed to close before losing, 7-5 6-3.

“FDU had the edge, but I thought we could come up with several points on our favor,” said Tobin. “We looked good during warm-up and our confidence level was high, but they came out strong in singles and we just didn't have enough this time.”