MOUNT ST. MARY'S (9-9) at LOYOLA (8-4)
Wednesday, April 9, 2014 | 3:15 p.m.
Baltimore, Md. | Butler Courts
MOUNT UPDATE: Just three matches stand between the Mount and the Northeast Conference Tournament beginning next week. The Mount has gone 3-2 in the last five matches with wins over Wagner, UMES and Coppin State in recent tilts. In singles play this season, the younger players have stepped up with freshman Darren Mast leading the team with 12 wins, while freshman Mateo DeSomocurcio and sophomore Austin Blake are tied for second with 10 wins apiece.
LAST TIME OUT: In a 6-1 loss at George Mason on April 6, senior Mike Zabetakis won his 42nd career singles match to move within two wins of a tie for 10th for most victories in school history. The Mount got off to a slow start with the Patriots taking the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3. At No. 2 doubles, freshman Mateo DeSomocurcio and junior Adam Salam teamed up for an 8-6 victory.
ABOUT LOYOLA: The Greyhounds are sitting in fifth place in the nine-team Patriot League with a 1-2 conference record and an 8-4 mark overall. Selected seventh in the preseason coaches poll, Loyola is coming off a 7-0 loss to first-place Army on April 6. Loyola had won two in a row with wins over UMES and Lafayette before losing to Army.
LAST SEASON VS. LOYOLA: In a home match on April 10, 2013, the Mount cruised to a 6-1 win over Loyola to improve the Mountaineers' record to 13-6. The Mount won two out of the three doubles matches and also took five of six singles matches in the victory.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. LOYOLA: The Mount is 7-4 versus the Greyhounds since moving to Division I before the start of the 1988-89 season. The Mount won five of the first six matchups before Loyola won three in a row from 2007-09. In the last two meetings, in 2010 and 2013, the Mount has been victorious.
FAMILIAR FOE: Players from the Mount and Loyola squared off during the fall season at the Mount St. Mary's Invitational. Most notably, in the Flight A singles championship match, Loyola's Connor Pietrak defeated the Mount's Peter Salomon, 6-3, 6-3, in a back-and-forth match.
AWARD WINNERS: On April 1, the Northeast Conference announced the Mount men's tennis team had swept the weekly awards with Austin Blake earning Player of the Week and Darren Mast earning Rookie of the Week. Blake and Mast both won their doubles and singles matches on March 27 versus Bucknell. Mast is the second Mount player to earn Rookie of the Week this season, joining Mateo DeSomocurcio, who took home the honor on March 20.
UP NEXT: The Mount plays its final two regular season matches of the year over the weekend versus Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday, April 12, at 3 p.m. in Teaneck, N.J. and against Saint Peter's on Sunday, April 13, at 11 a.m.
