Sea Gulls fall to No. 13 Johns Hopkins

SALISBURY, Md. - The Salisbury University men's tennis team dropped a tough 8-1 decision to No. 13 Johns Hopkins University on Sunday at the SU Outdoor Tennis Courts. The Blue Jays (9-3) are ranked No. 3 in the Atlantic South region while the Sea Gulls (10-6) are ranked ninth.

In doubles play, senior Sasha Felikson and sophomore Giorgio Athans were defeated by Warren Elgort and Ryan Rauck at No. 3 doubles 8-2. The No. 2 doubles pair of freshman Daniel Barnas and sophomore Andrew Nottage had a tough task as they faced the No. 11 doubles pair in the nation of David Maldow and Andrew Wang. Madlow and Wang won 8-3. Salisbury's top doubles pair of Scott Burtzlaff and Evan Thomas, ranked No. 4 in the region, fell to Jacob Barnaby and Casey Blythe 8-6.

SU enter singles play down 3-0. Burtzlaff squared off against JHU's Maldow at No. 1 singles. Madlow, ranked No. 10 nationally, dropped the first set 6-2. Madlow won the next two sets 6-4 and 6-2 to claim the point. Thomas could not seem to find a rhythm at No. 2 singles vs. Wang as the junior fell in two sets 6-3 and 6-4. Sophomore David Lupinetti claimed Salisbury's one and only point. Lupinetti defeated Elgort 6-2 in the first set before he dropped the second set 6-4. The Walkersville, Md., native won the third set 7-6 winning the tiebreaker 11-9 and improved his singles' record to 14-3 on the year. Freshman standout Barnas played a strong match against Barnaby at No. 4 singles as he took the first set 6-4 but lost the second set 6-4 and the final set 10-8. No. 5 singles featured a great match between Nottage and Orlando Ferrer. Nottage lost the first set 6-4 and the second 7-6 as he lost the tiebreaker 7-3. Peter Vale defeated Felikson 6-4 and 6-1 to close out the match.

The Sea Gulls will continue Capital Athletic Conference play this week with two matches against St. Mary's (Md.) College and Wesley College.