Owls open season with victory

The men’s tennis team defeated City 6 rival Villanova, 5-2, in its spring-season opener Thursday.

The men’s tennis team opened its spring semester of play Thursday, with a 5-2 victory over Villanova.

The veteran led team won four out of its six singles matches, and two of three doubles competitions.

In singles, junior Nicolas Paulus and sophomore Vineet Naran won in straight sets. The team also added victories from juniors Santiago Canete and Ondre Cargill. In the second flight, Paulus won 6-4, 6-4, while Naran won his sets with the scores of 6-1, 6-4 at the fifth flight. Cargill fought his opponent to a third set and won with the scores of 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at the sixth flight, while Canete won his two sets 6-2, 7-5 at the first flight.

In the doubles matches, the duos of Ian Glessing and Naran along with Cargill and Canete were victorious. The pair of Glessing and Naran won 8-6 at the third flight, while the second flight pair of Cargill and Canete won, 8-5.

“Villanova has always been a great opponent,” coach Steve Mauro said. “They are always solid, so it is nice to get a win against a crosstown rival. I wasn’t sure how the guys would react, but they responded in a good way.”

Mauro said the team’s attitude Thursday was an important factor that led to a positive start to the season.

“The team atmosphere is good,” Mauro said. “The coaching staff and the players get along well and all of us are excited for the season to start.”

The team travels to the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday to play in the second round of the City 6 Tournament against St. Joseph’s at 11 a.m.

“I believe the [team] will come out and continue to fight,” Mauro said. “I believe we have a good chance against a quality team like St. Joseph’s.”

Dalton Balthaser can be reached at dalton.balthaser@temple.edu or on Twitter @DaltonBalthaser.

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