Philadelphia, PA - The NJIT men's tennis team got back to its winning ways on Tuesday, defeating previously unbeaten St. Joseph's 5-2 in an away match.

NJIT, which lost for the first time this season on Sunday to Army West Point is now 6-1, while the Hawks dropped to 4-1.

"An outstanding rebound after Sunday's tough loss," said Head Coach Ira Miller. "The boys were determined to get ahead and not let up, even though it was our first match outside."

The Highlanders got on the board first by winning the doubles point thanks to victories at the #1 (Samuel Townes/Josh Smith) and #2 positions (Amine El Kholti/Abdullah Fouad).

"First and second doubles played amazing to get us the doubles point," added Miller.

The Highlanders then took four of six singles matches to earn the 5-2 victory, getting wins from El Kholti, Townes, Ashwin Kanetkar, and Ammar Fekry.

El Kohlti dropped his first set 6-0, but bounced back to earn the match-clinching win at third singles.

"Amine had one of his best days in singles and doubles, losing the first 6-0 but coming back strong in the last two sets," concluded Miller. 

NJIT returns to action on Saturday for another road match when it travels to in-state foe Monmouth. First serve is slated for 1pm in West Long Branch, NJ.
 

FULL RESULTS

Singles competition

1. Nathan Perrone (SJU) def. Abdullah Fouad (NJIT) 6-2, 6-2

2. Nickolas Frisk (SJU) def. Josh Smith (NJIT) 6-1, 7-5

3. Amine El Kholti (NJIT) def. Francesco Mowrey (SJU) 0-6, 6-4, 6-2

4. Samuel Townes (NJIT) def. Eshan Kanetkar (SJU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3

5. Ashwin Kanetkar (NJIT) def. Johnnie Massart (SJU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-1

6. Ammar Fekry (NJIT) def. Sam Suter (SJU) 6-1, 6-4

Doubles competition

1. Josh Smith/Samuel Townes (NJIT) def. Nathan Perrone/Eshan Kanetkar (SJU) 7-5

2. Amine El Kholti/Abdullah Fouad (NJIT) def. Nickolas Frisk/Francesco Mowrey (SJU) 7-5

3. Johnnie Massart/Alex Macneil (SJU) def. Ashwin Kanetkar/Ammar Fekry (NJIT) 6-4