Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
Hofstra (CAA Championships)
Hofstra Edges Dragons, 4-2, In CAA Tournament
4/17/2008 7:18:14 PM | Men's Tennis
Newport News, Va. - For the second time in as many weeks the Drexel men's tennis team lost a tantilizingly close match to Hofstra. This time the 4-2 loss ended the Dragons' 2007-08 season in the first round of the CAA Tournament at the Huntington Park Tennis Center. Senior Omar Laalej closed out his Drexel career with a straight-set victory at first singles to improve his record to 22-5 on the season. The Dragons won at first and second doubles to claim an additional team point. But the remaining singles matches fell to the Pride by the closest of margins.
Laalej and doubles partner Jason Savage-Pollock defeated Stain Tvedt and Tytus Stempniewicz 8-5 at first doubles and Carlo Pangilinan and Joe Koebele followed suit with an 8-4 win over Luka Djordjevic and Andy Cha to clinch a team point for Drexel in the early going.
Koebele and Sabyasachi Bose went three sets against their opponents at second and fourth singles, respectively, before conceeding defeat. Koebele dropped his first set to Tvedt 6-3, but came back for an emphatic 6-1 victory in the second set before falling in the third set. Bose opened his match against Stempniewcz with a 6-4 win, but dropped the last two sets 6-3, 6-0 to lose his match. Savage-Pollock lost in a tough second-set tiebreaker (11-5) and was trailing 3-2 in a close match against Matthew Wacks, an opponent he beat last weekend in Hempstead, N.Y. but Hofstra clinched the match before he could complete the comeback.
The Dragons wrapped up a 10-9 season, one of the winningest seasons in recent history for the Dragons. Among their 10 victories were signiture wins at Lehigh and against city rival Temple and a thrilling six-match winning streak at midseason. Omar Laalej capped his illustrious career by earning a spot on the All-CAA Second Team.
#8 Hofstra 4, #9 Drexel 2
Singles
#1 Omar Laalej (DU) d. Luka Djordjevic (HU), 6-2, 7-5
#2 Stian Tvedt (HU) d. Joe Koebele (DU), 6-3, 1-6, 6-1
#3 Nenad Radakovic (HU) d. Carlo Pangilinan (DU), 6-1, 6-1
#4 Tytus Stempniewicz (HU) d. Sabyasachi Bose (DU), 4-6, 6-3, 6-0
#5 Matthew Wacks (HU) vs. Jason Savage-Pollock (DU), 6-3, 6-7 (5), 3-2 - DNF
#6 Andy Cha (HU) d. Alex Barnes (DU), 6-1, 6-2
Doubles
#1 Laalej/Savage-Pollock (DU) d. Tvedt/Stempniewicz (HU), 8-5
#2 Pangilinan/Koebele (DU) d. Djordjevic/Cha (HU), 8-4
#3 Radakovic/Wacks (HU) vs. Bose/Gaurav Parikh (DU), 5-7 - DNF
