FLUSHING, N.Y. – Continuing their three-match homestand Wednesday afternoon the Queens College men's tennis team welcomed nationally ranked #47 Panthers of Adelphi University to town for a non-conference battle.
The Knights would earn the doubles point for an early lead but as the Panthers battled back in singles play to tie the match at 3-3, senior
Roni Rikkonen (Tampere, Finland) would clinch the match with a three-set victory at #1 singles as Queens earned a 4-3 victory over the Panthers.
With the win, the Knights improved to 11-6 overall on the year.
Doubles
The Panthers opened the doubles action by taking the #2 court as the pair of sophomore
Lucas Foix Sotos (Javea, Spain) and junior
Cameron Henricy (Las Palmas, Spain) fell to Hugo Munoz Reinoso and Reece Farrow to the score of 6-2.
But the #1 duo of seniors
Roni Rikkonen (Tampere, Finland) and
Omar El Shehawey (Cairo, Egypt) would earn a 6-4 victory over Marko Jovanovic to tie the doubles action at 1-1.
It would be a thriller at #3 doubles between the pair of senior
Francisco Gonzalez (La Plata, Argentina) and freshman
David Cerne (Ljubljana, Slovenia) against Thiago Negrao and Viktor Hockl. But the Knights duo would earn a 7-6
(7-4) victory as Queens took a 1-0 lead into singles play.
Singles
Adelphi would tie the match 1-1 as freshman
Tim Andersson (Linkoping, Sweden) fell to Hockl at #2 singles to the score of 4-6, 2-6.
But sophomore Foix Sotos would put the Knights up 2-1 with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Reinoso at #4 singles.
However as Gonzalez fell to Farrow at #6 singles to the score of 3-6, 3-6, Henricy at #2 single would help the Knights regain the lead with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Recci as Queens took a 3-2 lead.
The Panthers continued to stay in the match as El Shehawey fell in a tough three-set loss against Horsley to the score of 6-4, 1-6, 2-6 as the visitors tied the match at 3-3.
With the match tied 3-3, attention turned to #1 singles between Rikkonen and Jovanovic. Rikkonen would take the first set 6-4 before Jovanvoic forced the third set with a 7-6
(7-5) second set victory. But Rikkonen would earn the third set victory to the final score of 6-3 as Queens extended their win streak to five matches for a 4-3 match victory.
Next Serve
The Knights conclude East Coast Conference play on Saturday (Apr. 20) evening as they welcome the Wildcats of Daemen University to town. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m.
For the latest news on Queens College Athletics, follow the Knights at queensknights.com or via social media on Facebook (Queens College Athletics), Twitter (@QCKnights), Instagram (qcknightsny), qcmtennis (@qcmtennis)
