EBENSBURG, Pa. – The Saint Francis men's tennis team earned a 4-3 win over Youngstown State on Friday at the Ebensburg Tennis Center to pick up its first home win of the year and improve to 5-1 on the season.  The Red Flash won the doubles points and singles matches at the top three positions.
 
Saint Francis captured the doubles point for the fifth time in six matches. 
 
Sophomore Alec Dylan Foo-Kune (Phoenix, Mauritius/International Connections Academy (Md.)) and senior Washi Gervais (Longueuil, Quebec/College Stanislas) combined at the top doubles spot against Yossi Dahan and Hugo Morth.  The Red Flash duo earned a 6-3 win to improve to 5-1 this spring.
 
At the No. 3 spot, junior Plamen Avuski (Plovdiv, Bulgaria /Math High School ) and freshman Jan Vit Suntar (Cerklje na Gorenjskem, Slovenia/Gimnazija Kranj) matched up against the Penguins' Bassem El Mekawi and Gabriel Tolesani.  The SFU pair claimed a 6-4 victory to clinch the point and move to 5-1 in dual matches.
 
Junior Rodrigo Tico (Guadalajara, Mexico/Colegio de Bachilleres) and freshman Robin van der Heijden (Burgh Haamstede, Netherlands/Scheldmond College) competed at No. 2 against Matthew Kritzinger and Luke Purser.  However, Tico and van der Heijden fell 6-3.
 
Gervais took on Morth at the top singles spot.  After dropping the first set, 6-2, Gervais battled back to win the second set, 7-6, including 8-6 in the tiebreaker.  In the deciding set, the senior won 6-1 to improve to 6-0 on the season.  The first set of today's match was the first one that Gervais has lost so far this spring.
 
At the No. 2 position, Foo-Kune battled the Penguins' Kritzinger.  The sophomore, Foo-Kune, claimed the opening set, 6-4.  He completed the straight-set victory with a 6-1 win in the following set.  He is now 4-2 in dual match play.
 
Suntar competed at the No. 3 spot against Youngstown State's Dahan.  The freshman captured the opening set, 6-1.  He nearly repeated his performance in the second set, winning 6-2, to clinch the sweep.  He improved to 5-1 this spring.
 
At the No. 4 spot, Tico faced Purser.  The junior dropped the first set, 6-1, but bounced back to win the second set, 6-4.  In a tight super-tiebreaker third set, Purser came out on top, 11-9. Tico is now 3-3 this spring.
 
Avuski lined up at No. 5 against El Mekawi.  The SFU junior claimed the first set, 6-3, but El Mekawi responded with a 6-3 set of his own.  In the deciding tiebreaker set, El Mekawi won 10-8.  Avuski suffered his first loss of the spring and is now 3-1.
 
At No. 6, van der Heijden competed against Tolesani.  However, van der Heijden fell 6-0, 6-0 and is now 2-2 in dual matches.
 
"This was a great effort by the guys," said Head Coach Rob Castille. "Youngstown State is a very good team and well-coached. It was important to get off to a good start and we did that in doubles, coming away with the point. We carried that momentum over with our top three singles guys who clinched the win for us. I did challenge our 4-6 guys as I think we need to be a little more solid at those positions. But I am confident they will respond in a positive way moving forward."
 
The Red Flash takes on Carnegie Mellon on Saturday at The Club Sport and Health in Monroeville, Pa.  The match begins at 3:45 p.m.  The SFU team is hosting a "Buddy Up Tennis" Clinic prior to the match, from 12:30-2 p.m., helping to give individuals with Down syndrome an opportunity to learn and play the sport of tennis.
 
Doubles:
1. Foo-Kune/Gervais(SFU) def. Dahan/Morth(YSU), 6-3.
2. Kritzinger/Purser(YSU) def. Tico/van der Heijden(SFU), 6-3.
3. Avuski/Suntar(SFU) def. El Mekawi/Tolesani(YSU), 6-4.
Order of Finish: 1,2,3
 
Singles:
1. Gervais(SFU) def. Morth(YSU), 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-1.
2. Foo-Kune(SFU) def. Kritzinger(YSU), 6-4, 6-1.
3. Suntar(SFU) def. Dahan(YSU), 6-1, 6-2.
4. Purser(YSU) def. Tico(SFU), 6-1, 4-6, (11-9).
5. El Mekawi(YSU) def. Avuski(SFU), 3-6, 6-3, (10-8).
6. Tolesani(YSU) def. van der Heijden(SFU), 6-0, 6-0.
Order of Finish: 1,2,3,5,6,4