Drexel Men's and Women's Tennis Knock Off Hofstra in First Round of CAA Tournament

Thursday, April 16

Norfolk, Va.

9:00 a.m.

Drexel University

Hofstra (CAA Championships)

Drexel Men's and Women's Tennis Knock Off Hofstra in First Round of CAA Tournament

4/16/2009 2:41:27 PM | Men's Tennis, Women's Tennis

Norfolk, Va. - Drexel men's and women's tennis scored opening-round victories to advance in the CAA Tournament on Thursday. The seventh-seeded Drexel women (14-2) earned a decisive 4-0 victory over No. 10 Hofstra. And the ninth-seeded men (6-6) came from behind to defeat the Pride 4-3 in a thrilling match that had to be decided in doubles play. The women advance to play No. 2 Virginia Commonwealth at 2:00 p.m. on Friday and the men will face top-seeded UNC Wilmington at 11:30 a.m.

Gozde Unkaya improved to 16-2 on the season with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Christie Gattelaro at second singles. The Dragons made quick work of the Pride with straight-set wins at second, third and fourth singles. Emily Lewis won by forfeit at sixth singles to start the Dragons off with a 1-0 lead in the match. Zineb Hilali and Elise Leizerovich led in their matches at first and fifth singles when the Dragons won the clincher to end the match. Anahita Jagtiani won 6-4, 6-4 over Stacy Kent at third singles to clinch the match for Drexel.

For the women, it was the team's first CAA Tournament victory since 2002, the Dragons' first season in the league. Drexel defeated George Mason 4-2 in the opening round as the No. 8 seed that season.

On the men's side, Drexel battled back after dropping its first two matches at first and second singles to knot the match at three games all when Jason Savage-Pollock topped Alex Hosner 6-4, 6-2 at fifth singles. Savage-Pollock's win sent the match into doubles play.

Seniors Joe Koebele and Carlo Pangilinan redeemed themselves after tough three-set losses in singles play to defeat Stian Tvedt and Tytus Stempniewicz 8-5 at first doubles. Mehdi Rhazali and Bryan Nguyen edged Hosner and Eric Gladstone 8-4 at third doubles to give Drexel the decisive point.

Rhazali came up with a huge come-from-behind win over Tytus Stempniewicz at third singles. After dropping the first set in a tiebreaker, Rhazali dismantled Stempniewicz 6-0, 6-1 to win the match. Freshman Bryan Nguyen continued to prove his mettle as the Dragons' top rookie, dispatching Eric Gladstone 6-1, 6-1 at sixth singles to give Drexel its first team point.

The victory avenged first-round tournament losses to Hofstra in each of the last two seasons and earned the Dragons a shot at the No. 1 seed UNC Wilmington Seahawks. Drexel lost its regular-season meeting against UNC Wilmington 7-0 at the CAA Round Robin on April 3.

All matches were played indoors at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center on the campus of Old Dominion University at Norfolk, Va.

Women's Match Results

#7 Drexel 4, #10 Hofstra 0

Singles
#1 Zineb Hilali (DU) vs. Lauren Clifton (HU), 6-2, 4-5 - DNF

#2 Gozde Unkaya (DU) d. Christie Gattelaro (HU), 6-0, 6-1

#3 Anahita Jagtiani (DU) d. Stacy Kent (HU), 6-4, 6-4

#4 Sonja Stosic (DU) d. Brooke Sailer (HU), 6-2, 6-1

#5 Elise Leizerovich (DU) vs. Tracy Ferrer (HU), 5-1 - DNF

#6 Emily Lewis (DU) wins by forfeit

Doubles - DNP