Men’s tennis finds victory in home match series

The men’s tennis team ended a six match home series with a 7-0 victory over George Mason University on Friday.

The Rams won five of their last six matches and extended their overall record to 10-2.

Senior Michal Voscek picked up his ninth win on the No. 1 singles court of the spring against GMU. Voscek improved to 10-2 overall this spring, including 9-2 while playing at the top of the Rams’ singles lineup with a 6-1, 6-3 rout of GMU’s Aaron Capitel.

Junior Catalin Fifea won his team-leading 13th singles match of the year and improved to 9-1 this spring when he cruised past James Lange 6-4, 6-0.

Junior Daryl Monfils remained unbeaten on the singles court in 2016 when he topped the Patriots Tanner Baine 6-4, 6-3 at the No. 4 spot. Monfils is 7-0 this spring and 10-2 overall.

Old Dominion

ODU halted VCU’s five-match win streak with a 5-2 victory on last week. Voscek defeated No. 68 Adam Moundir, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 but it wasn’t enough. Monfils also garnished a win for the Rams with two 6-3 victories.

University of Richmond

VCU’s win over cross-town rival University of Richmond was even more special than usual. On Feb. 17, head coach Paul Kostin improved to 1,069-368 all-time and passed legendary Hampton Coach Robert Screen for second in NCAA history.

Kostin has coached VCU’s men’s tennis program since 1991 and the Rams women’s teams since the 2002 season. Prior to his arrival in Richmond, he had a successful 10-year run at his alma mater, Arkansas-Little Rock. Kostin trails only Jim Schwitters, who racked up 1,326 wins from 1965-2003 at Hawaii.

In 26 seasons with the Rams, Kostin has led VCU to a combined 33 NCAA appearances and 24 Conference Championships. His 2000 men’s squad reached the NCAA Championship Match before falling to Stanford.

Voscek, Fifea, Monfils, freshman Arvid Noren and sophomore Louis Ishizaka all added to the Rams 6-1 victory over the Spiders.

Noren, freshman Philip Mobius and Fifea all contributed to the Rams’ 6-1 win over Binghamton University on Feb. 12 in both singles and doubles play. Noren won the first two sets, 6-3 and 6-4.

Voscek, Fifea and Monfil each booked singles and doubles wins when VCU beat University of Maryland Baltimore County 5-1 on Feb. 7.

The Rams swept the Highlanders 5-0 on Feb. 6. The match was a make-up of a 4-1 Invitational match originally postponed by winter storm Jonas.

The Rams hit the road for the first time in nearly a month when they took on Elon on Feb. 28. Match updates could not be included by press time.

Staff Writer, Sophia Belletti

Sophia is a sophomore print/online journalism major with a minor in gender, sexuality and women’s studies. She enjoys writing about current events and sports and hopes to one day be a sports reporter, covering soccer, basketball and baseball. You can usually find Sophia drinking way too much coffee and laughing at her own jokes. // Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn

bellettisr@commonwealthtimes.org