CAYCE, S.C.—The sophomore duo of
Josh Robinson (Potomac, Md.) and
Noah Winton (Columbia, Mo.) tallied a 6-2 victory in their No. 3 doubles match as #8 seed Villanova (3-15) took on #1 seed St. John's (16-5) in the quarterfinal round of the 2022 BIG EAST Men's and Women's Tennis Championship presented by JEEP at the Cayce Tennis & Fitness Center on Friday morning. The top-seeded Red Storm advanced with a 4-0 victory that was more competitive than the final score indicated.
Robinson and Winton defeated Vlad Vasilachi and Carl Gustavsson to record their fourth win in seven matches while paired together over the second half of the dual competition season. The battle for the doubles point to start the match was a good one, with St. John's tallying a win at No. 1 doubles and the Wildcats countering with the win by Robinson and Winton in the third spot. Senior
Matthew Jones (Dallas, Texas) and junior
Justin Suarez (Manila, Philippines) were defeated by Axel Vila Antuna and Ignacio Garcia in the No. 1 doubles spot.
The doubles point came down to the No. 2 match featuring the Villanova pair of freshman
Trey Fourticq (Los Angeles, Calif.) and sophomore
Anthony Prokurat (Manalapan, N.J.) taking on the Red Storm duo of Dylan Lora and Charlie James. The match was tied 3-3 when Robinson and Winton tallied their win in the No. 3 spot, creating an exciting finish which St. John's eventually won by taking three straight games to secure a 6-3 decision.
In the singles matches, the Red Storm clinched the team result with three wins in the second half of the lineup. Jones fell to Garcia (6-1, 6-1) at No. 4 single, sophomore
Ryan Nguyen (Oakton, Va.) was defeated by Vasilachi (6-0, 6-1) in the No. 5 singles match and junior
Alex Kim (Cary, N.C.) lost to Ryota Kaneda (6-0, 6-1) at No. 6 singles. None of the first three singles matches were played to completion, although all were shaping up to have competitive finishes.
Fourticq was playing at No. 3 singles against Yaron Luberman and trailed 5-4 in the opening set, while Robinson also took four games in his first set against Vila Antuna and was trailing 6-4, 1-0 when play was completed. The final match was at No. 2 singles where Suarez faced Gustavsson and was trailing by a 6-3, 2-0 count.
