District of Columbia Suffers First Loss of the Season to Division I Marist, 7-2

WASHINGTON, DC - The University of the District of Columbia men's tennis team received its first loss of the season at the hands of Division I Marist College by a score of 7-2.  With the loss, the Firebirds' five-match home win streak came to an end.

The day started off at the No. 3 doubles match.  The Firebirds doubles team of junior Carlos Quiroga (Electrical Engineering – Valencia, Venezuela/Maria Montessori) and tennis newcomer, freshman Simon Bratke (undecided – Bonn, Germany/Collegium Josephinum Bonn) fell to the Marist team of Joris Van Eck and Matteo Giudici, 8-2.  The second doubles match of the day fared the same way as junior Miguel Uzcategui (Electrical Engineering – Valencia, Venezuela/Colegio Sagrado Corazon) and junior Ike Kiro (Undecided – Milnerton Ridge, South Africa/Milnerton HS) lost to Trym Nagelstad and Fredrik Bjerke, 8-2 in the No. 2 match. 

The Firebirds received their first win of the day from senior Aleksandar Grabovac (Psychology – Ljubljana, Slovenia/Gimnazija Euro Sola Ljubljana) and sophomore Simon Andersson (Business Management – Ystad, Sweden/Sydskanska Gymnasiet) in the No. 1 doubles match against Billy Bishop and Dalen Klassen. Grabovac and Andersson won what was a back-and-forth battle by an 8-6 verdict.

The first singles match of the day was played by Bratke where he lost 6-0, 6-1 to Joseph Dube of Marist.  The No. 5 singles match saw Bjerke of Marist defeat Quiroga, 6-0, 6-4.  Next, Kiro suffered a tough loss in the No. 2 spot to Klassen, 6-2, 6-0.  This win also secured the overall victory for Marist.

In the No. 4 singles match, Nagelstad defeated Andersson, 6-1, 6-0.  In a hard fought match against Will Reznek of Marist, Uzcategui pulled close, but ultimately lost 6-4, 7-5.  The first and only singles victory of the day for the Firebirds came in the No. 1 singles match with Grabovac defeating Lorenzo Rossi by a score of 6-4, 6-4.

District of Columbia will be back in action at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 24 at home as they take on Chestnut Hill.

UDC – 2, Marist College – 7

Doubles

1. Grabovac/Andersson def. Bishop/Klassen (MC) 8-6

2. Nagelstad/Bjerke (MC) def. Uzcategui/Kiro 8-2

3. Van Eck/Giudici (MC) def. Quiroga/Bratke 8-2

Singles

1. Aleksandar Grabovac def. Lorenzo Rossi (MC) 6-4, 6-4

2. Dalen Klassen (MC) def. Ike Kiro 6-2, 6-0

3. Will Reznek (MC) def. Miguel Uzcategui 6-4, 7-5

4. Trym Nagelstad (MC) def. Simon Andersson 6-1, 6-0

5. Fredrik Bjerke (MC) def. Carlos Quiroga 6-0, 6-4

6. Joseph Dube (MC) def. Simon Bratke 6-0, 6-1

UDC – 2

MC – 7

Order of Completion

Doubles: 3, 2, 1

Singles: 6, 5, 2, 4, 3, 1

Season Record (W-L): 4 – 1, ECC: 1 – 0