April 7, 2006

MONROEVILLE, Pa. - The St. Bonaventure men's tennis team won its opening match of the 2006 Atlantic 10 Men's Tennis Championship by defeating thirteenth seed La Salle in convincing fashion, 4-0, on Friday at the Club 4 Life in Monroeville, Pa.

The fourth seeded Bonnies took control early and never looked back, as they did not lose a set the entire match. Standout junior Alejandro Nery dismantled La Salle's Marco Onorato in No. 1 singles, 6-0, 6-2. In No. 2 singles the Bonnies kept rolling as freshman Leo Mochizuki defeated Ross Flockerzie in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0, and freshman Jonathan Luce won 6-0, 6-2 in No. 6 singles against Corey Hanson.

The Bonnies also dominated doubles play. In the No. 2 slot, Nery and Luce snagged an 8-2 victory, while Mochizuki along with freshman Victor Lecina trounced La Salle's duo 8-0 in the No. 3 slot.

The first team to four points decides every match in the tournament. A point is awarded to every singles match, and an additional point is awarded in doubles to the winner of a best-of-three series. Because the Bonnies took the first possible four points of the match, the singles matches of Lecina, junior Andrew Hart and junior Dejan Stankovic, were not completed. Also, the No. 1 doubles match with Hart and Stankovic did not finish because the Bonnies had already been awarded the doubles point.

The Bonnies will move on to the second-round, which will be played tonight at 8 p.m. They will face the winner of the opening round match between fifth seeded Temple and twelve seed St. Louis.