The weekend of March 19 and March 20 was a bright spot for the FAU Men’s tennis team. The team went up against Webber International University on Saturday and against Indiana State University on Sunday. Both matches were non-conference match-ups but were important as far as showing the team where they stand right now.
“Webber International was a very strong match.” said Melissa Dawson, a representative who works with the Men’s team. “Webber was a great day for us. It was great to get a win and get in the right direction,” she added. FAU did do exceptionally well against Webber gaining all 6 of the singles points for the match. The team failed to gain the doubles point but the pair of Kevin Obletz and David Demers won one of the three doubles matches for FAU with a score of 8-2. Leading the way for the singles again was Demers who won his match 6-0, 6-0. Also playing well was F.J. Schofield who won his match 6-2, 6-0. “F.J. is our foundation right now.” proclaimed Dawson. “He is playing extremely well.” J.P. Bounassar, Antonello Margris, Kevin Obletz, and Mauricio Paiz all won their singles matches as well as the team swept the singles matches.
On Sunday March 20 the Owls took on Indiana State University and suffered a disappointing loss with a score of 4-3. Even though they lost the coaches were pleased with the effort shown from the team. “The guys played unbelievably well,” said a proud Dawson. “Their effort is really starting to show on the court.” Indiana State proved to be a difficult opponent, but the fact that the Owls played them so close was very promising. The doubles teams for Indiana State are exceptionally good as their number one doubles team is ranked 42nd in the country. However, FAU’s tandem of Obeltz and Demers won their doubles set 8-6. Schofield again led the way with a win and score of 6-2, 6-2. Bounassar also won his match with a score of 7-5, 6-4 as well as another win from Obeltz who won in three sets 7-5, 5-7, 7-5.
The team was impressive but still has some things to work on. “We are trying to get our doubles better now and win that point,” Dawson said. The team looks to finish the season impressively.
