Bracket | Tournament Central
 
LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis men's tennis team earned a 4-0 win over Mount St. Mary's in the First Round of the NEC Championships on Friday.  The Red Flash won the doubles point and three singles matches.  SFU is now 13-8 on the season. 
 
Saint Francis advances to Saturday's semifinals, where it will face Fairleigh Dickinson at 9 a.m.
 
At the top doubles spot, sophomore Alec Dylan Foo-Kune (Phoenix, Mauritius/International Connections Academy (Md.)) and senior Washi Gervais (Longueuil, Quebec/College Stanislas) took on Austin Blake and Mateo DeSomocurcio.  The Red Flash duo earned a 6-3 victory.  Foo-Kune and Gervais improved to 15-6 on the year.
 
Junior Rodrigo Tico (Guadalajara, Mexico/Colegio de Bachilleres) and freshman Robin van der Heijden (Burgh Haamstede, Netherlands/Scheldmond College) competed at No. 2 against Louis Tonon and Brandon Wortkotter.  The SFU pair clinched the doubles point with a 7-6 win, including 7-4 in the tiebreaker.  It was the duo's fifth win of the spring.
 
In the match at No. 3, junior Plamen Avuski (Plovdiv, Bulgaria /Math High School ) and freshman Jan Vit Suntar (Cerklje na Gorenjskem, Slovenia/Gimnazija Kranj) met the Mount's Darren Mast and Peter Salomon.  However, Avuski and Suntar fell 7-5.
 
"I want to congratulate Mount St. Mary's on a great match and season," said Head Coach Rob Castille. "I thought we started off a little slow in doubles, and to be honest, we were lucky to come away with the point.  We loosened up in singles and played better. We'll rest up and be ready for a tough Fairleigh Dickinson team tomorrow."
 
Suntar battled Mast at the fourth singles position.  The SFU rookie dominated the first set, 6-0.  He clinched a straight-set victory with a 6-3 second set.  Suntar has 12 wins this spring.
 
At No. 5, Avuski took on Mount St. Mary's Wortkotter.  The Red Flash junior earned a 6-4 win in the opening set.  Avuski repeated his performance in the second set, winning 6-4.  Avuski improved to 14-5 in dual matches. 
 
In the sixth spot, van der Heijden faced Landis.  The SFU freshman won a close opening set, 7-5.  He then dominated the second set, 6-0, to clinch the match.  The win by van der Heijden clinched the match point for the Red Flash.
 
After the match point was clinched, the matches at the first three spots were stopped. 
 
Gervais competed against the Mount's Blake at the top singles spot.  Gervais dropped the first set, 6-3, but responded with a 6-1 second set win.  In the deciding set, Gervais was trailing 2-1 when the match was stopped.
 
At No. 2, Foo-Kune battled DeSomocurcio.  The Red Flash sophomore won a tough opening set, 7-6, including 11-9 in the tiebreaker.  Foo-Kune was tied 2-2 in the second set when it was stopped.
 
Tico faced Tonon at No. 3.  The SFU junior earned a 7-6 win in a tight first set, including 7-2 in the tiebreaker.  Tico was ahead, 5-2, in the second set when it was stopped.
 
Doubles:
1. Foo-Kune/Gervais(SFU) def. Blake/DeSomocurcio(MSM), 6-3.
2. Tico/van der Heijden(SFU) def. Tonon/Wortkotter(MSM), 7-6(4).
3. Mast/Salomon(MSM) def. Avuski/Suntar(SFU), 7-5.
Order of Finish: 3,1,2
 
Singles:
1. Gervais(SFU) vs. Blake(MSM), 3-6, 6-1, 1-2, unfinished.
2. Foo-Kune(SFU) vs. DeSomocurcio(MSM), 7-6(9), 2-2, unfinished.
3. Tico(SFU) vs. Tonon(MSM), 7-6(2), 5-2, unfinished.
4. Suntar(SFU) def. Mast(MSM), 6-0, 6-3.
5. Avuski(SFU) def. Wortkotter(MSM), 6-4, 6-4.
6. van der Heijden(SFU) def. Landis(MSM), 7-5, 6-0.
Order of Finish: 4,5,6