ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure men's tennis team hosts a pair of matches over the weekend. The Bonnies face New Jersey Institute of Technology at 3 p.m. Saturday and Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne at 11 a.m. Sunday at the SBU Fitness Center.
St. Bonaventure (2-5) will aim to snap a four-match losing streak against a talented NJIT team. The Highlanders, who play at Niagara on Friday, boast a 7-2 overall record and are 3-1 on the road.
Led by Markus Schultz (7-0) and Erik Artursson (7-1), members of the NJIT team have combined for a 37-11 singles mark. The Highlanders are 19-3 in doubles matches, led by the 5-2 duo of Artursson and Peter Rousar.
The Bonnies haven't played NJIT in recent seasons, by they have competed against IPFW (3-9) in each of the last three years. The Mastodons have won the last two meetings against SBU, while the Bonnies topped IPFW three years ago.
In last season's 5-2 loss to the Mastodons, current senior Luis Guevara and current junior Javier Ortiz posted three-set singles victories for St. Bonaventure. Two years ago, in a 4-3 IPFW win, SBU's Ortiz and current senior Oscar Yanez prevailed in their singles matches. During the Bonnies' 5-2 triumph over the Mastodons in 2010, SBU's current No. 1 doubles team of Guevara and Yanez won from the third position.
This year's IPFW squad is currently on a three-match losing streak. Martin Muadi leads the Mastodons in singles action with a 7-5 mark, while the doubles teams of Muadi and Connor Andrews and Joao Freitas and Daniel Kang are tied for the team lead with six victories each.
St. Bonaventure and IPFW have each played Cleveland State and Robert Morris this spring – with both teams suffering losses to Cleveland State. The Mastodons topped Robert Morris 7-0, whereas the Bonnies lost to the Colonials 4-3.
Playing from the fourth position most of the year, Ortiz leads SBU with an 8-7 singles mark. He is 5-2 in spring matches.Yanez has also played well of late, notching three victories in his last five matches at No. 2 singles.
In doubles play, Guevara and Yanez have partnered for a team-leading 10-6 record overall and 5-2 this spring.
After this weekend, the Bonnies hit the road for a match against Youngstown State at 7 p.m. Friday, March 8.
