NEWARK, NJ - The NJIT men's tennis team defeated visiting Sacred Heart 7-0 on Thursday at the Naimoli Tennis Center.
NJIT jumped back over .500 on the season with the win, improving to 8-7, while the Pioneers dropped to 6-14.
Prior to the match, the Highlanders honored a pair of student-athletes -
Abdullah Fouad and
Daniel Sabogal - in the program's annual Senior Day ceremony.Â
"It was great to get our first shutout victory of the year, but more importantly, I'm happy for Abdullah and Daniel," said first-year Head Coach
Marco Matteucci. "To get a win in your final home match is one of a kind."
The Highlanders got off to a good start taking the doubles point with victories at the second and third positions.
Josh Smith and
Oscar Callo von Platen won at second doubles, while the duo honored prior to the match, Fouad and Sabogal, paired up for a victory at third doubles.Â
NJIT swept singles play to earn its first shutout victory of the season. Fouad won at second singles for the 50th win of his tremendous career as a Highlander.
Amine El Kholti (first), Smith (third), Callo von Platen (fourth),
Ashwin Kanetkar (fifth), and
Ammar Fekry (sixth) also earned singles victories on Thursday.Â
The Highlanders will look to match their season high of three wins in a row on Sunday when they travel to Delaware for another non-conference match. First serve is slated for 12pm in Newark, DE.Â
Complete Results
SinglesÂ
- Amine El Kholti (NJIT) def. William Wibmer (SHU) 6-4, 7-5
- Abdullah Fouad (NJIT) def. Lefteri Apostolou (SHU) 6-3, 6-6 (RET)
- Josh Smith (NJIT) def. Kevin Chao (SHU) 6-1, 6-4
- Oscar Callo von Platen (NJIT) def. Ayman Khan (SHU) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
- Ashwin Kanetkar (NJIT) def. Darius Eftekhar (SHU) 6-4, 6-4
- Ammar Fekry (NJIT) def. Tyler Lowe (SHU) 6-4, 7-5Â
DoublesÂ
- Amine El Kjolti/Samuel Townes (NJIT) def. William Wibmer/Lefteri Apostolou (SHU) 5-5 UF
- Josh Smith/Oscar Callo von Platen (NJIT) def. Tyler Lowe/Matt Nagel (SHU) 6-3
- Abdullah Fouad/Daniel Sabogal (NJIT) def. Ayman Khan/Darius Eftekhar (SHU) 6-4
