Flash Points:

• SFU men's tennis suffered its first loss of the Spring, falling 4-3 at Navy on Saturday.
• The Red Flash dropped a tight doubles point, but won three singles matches.
• SFU is now 3-1 this spring and travels to Youngstown State next Saturday.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Saint Francis men's tennis team suffered its first loss of the spring on Sunday as it fell 4-3 at Navy.  The Red Flash dropped the doubles point, but won three singles matches.  SFU is now 3-1 this Spring, while Navy improved to 2-0.
 
"This was a really well played match by both teams," said Head Coach Rob Castille. I thought it would be close and the doubles point would be important and it turned out to be the difference-maker."
 
At the top doubles spot, junior Alec Dylan Foo-Kune (Phoenix, Mauritius/International Connections Academy (Md.)) and senior Rodrigo Tico (Guadalajara, Mexico/Colegio de Bachilleres) matched up against Navy's Zach Jennings and Aries Wong.  The Red Flash duo earned a 6-3 win to improve to 3-1 this spring.
 
Freshman Arturo Dell'eva (Verona, Italy/Sanchez Casal Tennis Academy) and sophomore Jan Vit Suntar (Cerklje na Gorenjskem, Slovenia/Gimnazija Kranj) combined at No. 2 doubles against the Midshipmen's Greg Durham and Gabriel Pilones.  The SFU pair fell 6-1 and is now 1-2 in dual matches.
 
In the match at No. 3, freshman Franz Luna (Guatemala City, Guatemala/Laurel Springs) and sophomore Robin van der Heijden (Burgh Haamstede, Netherlands/Scheldmond College) competed against Matthew Lee and Andrey Majkic.  In a tight match, Luna and van der Heijden dropped a 7-6 decision, including 7-5 in the tiebreaker, to fall to 2-2 this spring.
 
"I felt we had a lot of chances to wins the doubles point, but we didn't take advantage," said Castille. "We need to learn to finish points and games better than we did today."
 
At No. 2 singles, Luna met Navy's Pilones.  The Red Flash rookie fell 3-6 in the first set, but bounced back to win the second set, 6-3.  In the deciding set, Luna came out on top, 6-4.  He is now 11-3 overall and 4-0 this spring.
 
Dell'eva took on Lee at the No. 4 singles spot.  The Red Flash rookie claimed the opening set, 6-4.  He then dominated the second set, winning 6-0, for a straight-set victory.  Dell'eva is now 8-1 overall and 3-0 this spring.
 
At No. 6, Suntar competed against the Midshipmen's Majkic.  The SFU sophomore dropped the opening set, 6-1.  He responded by winning the next set, 6-3.  In a tight third set, Suntar came out with a 7-6 win.  He moved to 9-2 this spring.
 
In the match at No. 1 singles, Foo-Kune met Navy's Wong.  The SFU senior fell 7-5, 6-0 and is now 2-2 this spring.
 
Tico faced the Midshipmen's Greg Durham at No. 3.  The Red Flash senior dropped a 6-0, 6-3 decision to move to 2-2 in dual matches.
 
Senior Plamen Avuski (Plovdiv, Bulgaria /Math High School ) competed at No. 5 against Zach Jennings.  The Saint Francis senior suffered a 6-3, 6-4 setback for his first loss of the spring and is now 2-1.
 
"I was pleased with how hard we fought in singles," said Castille. "It's tough to win four singles matches against a good team, but we gave our best effort and just came up short. Credit to Navy, who played well. We wish them luck the rest of the season."
 
The Red Flash travels to Youngstown State next Saturday, January 28, for a match.  The Penguins are 3-0 this season.
 
Doubles:
1. Foo-Kune/Tico(SFU) def. Jennings/Wong(Navy), 6-3.
2. Durham/Pilones(Navy) def. Dell'eva/Suntar(SFU), 6-1.
3. Lee/Majkic(Navy) def. Luna/van der Heijden(SFU), 7-6(5).
Order of Finish: 2,1,3
 
Singles:
1. Wong(Navy) def. Foo-Kune(SFU), 7-5, 6-0.
2. Luna(SFU) def. Pilones(Navy), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
3. Durham(Navy) def. Tico(SFU), 6-0, 6-3.
4. Dell'eva(SFU) def. Lee(Navy), 6-4, 6-0.
5. Jennings(Navy) def. Avuski(SFU), 6-3, 6-4.
6. Suntar(SFU) def. Majkic(Navy), 1-6, 6-3, 7-6.
Order of Finish: 5,4,3,1,2,6