HAMDEN — On a very nice but windy afternoon in the middle of spring break, Quinnipiac men’s tennis stepped on the new courts on the Mount Carmel Campus and blew Holy Cross away 6-1 on Tuesday.
It was the first official match the Bobcats have played on the new courts built in North Lot. The game was originally scheduled for March 8, but due to a bad weather forecast it was moved to March 13.
Rain is a good reason for stopping a game, but wind isn’t. That doesn’t mean it’s pleasant to play with it.
“It was definitely very windy,” head coach Bryan Adinolfi said. “But it was windy for both teams.”
That did not stop the Bobcats though. They took the first doubles point, but not without some trouble.
The duo of graduate student Daniel Velek and senior Shaurya Sood were the only players who went into the tie-break for the one set meet — moving to 7-5 as a team — but the other two pairs didn’t have it any easier.
Sophomore Csanad Nyaradi and freshman Finn Buridge took the set 7-5 and seniors Ayato Arakaki and Donovan Brown won 6-4, giving the Bobcats the first point.
That gave Quinnipiac the confidence it needed going into the singles matches. In front of the audience of about 10 people at the highest, it won five out of the six singles.
“We love to have support, some fans and stuff, the fact that it’s spring break there weren’t many people around, but we still got the job done,” Adinolfi said.
That appreciation for the fans’ support was clear when Velek and Nyaradi thanked those few in the audience after their games.
Velek did not play in the singles, which meant the senior captain, Arakaki, got moved back to the No. 1 spot, and he proved that he deserved to be there, taking the first match 6-4, 6-1.
Sood made a quick game out of his match, winning over Holy Cross’ senior Connor Nelson in two sets 6-2, 6-2.
Freshman Carlos Braun Simo is back at his No. 3 spot after nursing a shoulder injury for a few weeks. Even though he finished his match last — and technically did not need to finish his game at all since at that point the Bobcats won anyways — he persevered and won in two 6-4 sets.
Nyaradi and Burridge both went into the super tie-break, a quick first-to-10 game to decide a set-set tie. Nyaradi won his 10-5 and Burridge was the only Bobcat to lose today, falling 10-7.
Brown rounded up the line-up for Quinnipiac at the No. 6 spot, winning both sets 6-2.
“It was nice to get a win, for the first time on the courts, for sure,” Adinolfi said.
With the win, the Bobcats moved to 4-8 on the season as well as starting the home match streak undefeated. Their next match is tomorrow at 11 a.m. against Sacred Heart at the Tennis Club of Trumbull in Fairfield.
But they are back in action on their home courts on Friday, March 15 against Merrimack at 2 p.m.
As Adinolfi said, you can’t miss them, it’s the courts right in the middle of the parking lot.
