Mount St. Mary's (1-1) at. LaSalle (3-1)
Friday, October 7 3:00 p.m.
LaSalle Tennis Courts * Philadelphia, Pa.
Mount Update: The men's team comes into Friday's contest against the Explorers, after hosting a rain shortened Mount Invitational last weekend. Before the rain shortened the tournament, Adam Salam and Matthew Blake reached the Flight A singles final. And junior Mike Salomon reached the Flight B singles final. Both Salam and Salomon teamed up to advance to the finals of Flight B doubles.
About LaSalle: LaSalle comes into the contest at 3-1 overall, with their last match being a win over University of the Sciences, 4-3. They lost the doubles point, and then went on to win four of the six singles matches to get the win. The Explorers have a match today, Thursday at home against Philadelphia University, before tomorrow's match with the Mount.
Last Meeting: Last year the Mount beat LaSalle 6-1 in the friendly confines of Emmitsburg. The Mount won all of the three doubles matches to take an early lead. The Mount won five of the six singles matches, four of which were in straight sets, to roll to an easy victory over the Explorers.
The All-Time Series: This will be the 5th all-time meeting between the Mount and LaSalle with the Mount holding a dominating 4-0 lead against the Explorers. The Mount has won the past two road meetings by a combined score of 12-4. The Mount won the very first match back in 1989, 7-2 in Philadelphia.
About Last Year: Sophomores Mike Salomon and Matthew Blake each had double digit singles victories, to lead the team. Freshman Mike Zabetakis also joined the double digit club with 12 wins. On the doubles side, Zabetakis and Salomon teamed up to win eight doubles matches, the most out of those returning.
Senior Leadership: The team will have two seniors at the helm this year in Jastin Mostowtt (San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic), and Riley Gates (Ellicott City, Md./Mount St. Joseph). Mostowtt has six singles wins in his career, and has four doubles wins in his three seasons at the Mount.
Three's Company: The team has a strong junior class with three members who have been a force in the Northeast Conference. Matthew Blake (Garnet Valley, Pa./Salesianum (Del.), Mike Salomon (Haymarket, Va./Seton School), and Taylor Place (Snellville, Ga./St. Pius X) make up the trio. Both Blake and Salomon have posted double digit singles wins with Blake having 28 for his career, and Salomon posting 31 in his two years thus far. Place had 14 singles wins his freshman campaign, and posted eight a year ago. Place has 27 career doubles win, the most of any player on the squad.
Up Next: The men return to action Saturday, October 22 when they play Rider at home. First serve is at 3:00 p.m.
