Kyle Kandetzki -- SPORTS EDITOR The Hofstra men’s tennis team split their two dual meets over a three-day stretch, defeating the University of Hartford 5-2, but falling to Monmouth 4-0.
On Friday, the Pride established an early lead on Hartford and didn’t turn back from there.
In singles play, Beau Wills, Ari Richman and Niko Vulinovich won the first three matches, with only Wills having to use a third set.
Ricky Hendler and Stuart MacLeod fell to their opponents, each having a set where they didn’t score a single set victory. But a hard-fought 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-3) victory from Leonardo Pires gave Hofstra a 4-2 advantage going into doubles.
Victories from Wills/Vulinovich and Richman/Pires gave Hofstra a final point to add to their winning score, 5-2.
Then Hofstra returned to the courts with worse results against Monmouth, once the Hawks clinched a victory with a 4-0 score.
Only three singles matches were officially completed, which were losses for Niko Vulinovich against Ale Gomez Estrada (6-1, 6-4), a 6-4, 6-3 defeat for Ricky Hendler, and a 6-4, 6-2 loss for Stuart MacLeod to leave him 0-2 on the weekend.
The final point came from two doubles wins for Monmouth, coming against the teams of Hendler/MacLeod and Pires/Richman.
Wills, Richman, and Pires’ singles matches were all unfinished, but Wills was ahead one set to none when his was called, but Richman and Pires had both lost their opening set.
Hofstra is now 6-4 on the season, with four matches coming up this week against Marist, La Salle, UMBC, and Drexel.