STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Despite the absence of senior captain
Theo Bourghelle (Lesquin, France/LaSalle Lille) due to injury, the New Jersey City University men's tennis team gave Division I Wagner College all it could handle and then some on Sunday evening, Oct. 10, as the Gothic Knights hosted the Seahawks at the Staten Island Tennis Center in what was NJCU's final action of the Fall portion of its 2021-22 season. Jersey City pushed Wagner to the brink in the 5-4 loss.
Things got started with some hotly contested doubles matches. NJCU (1-1) fell behind 1-0 to Wagner (1-2) early after it dropped first doubles 8-3. However, second doubles — which featured the sophomore pairing of
Nico Teynie (Rouen, France/Lycée Val de Seine) and
Gerard Loras (Tortosa, Spain/Col·legi Diocesà Sagrada Família) — went the distance as the NJCU duo fought all the way to a tiebreak. Unfortunately the Gothic Knights were defeated 8-7 (7-4) by the Seahawks number two pair. Down 2-0 and having just dropped second doubles in an 11-point tiebreak, first-year Gothic Knights junior
Ryan Weiss (Mullica Hill, N.J./Clearview Regional) and freshman
Olaf de Lange () mustered up enough energy to come from behind and win their match at third doubles in a tiebreak of their own, 8-7 (7-5).
Down 2-1 heading into singles, the Gothic Knights needed to win four of the six to secure the upset victory over the higher-Division opponent. Things did not start out so well as Wagner took the 3-1 lead following a 6-2, 6-3, win at sixth singles. However NJCU got its first singles win on the day when sophomore
Jordi Julia (Barcelona, Spain/IES Sant Quirze del Valles) made quick work of his foe at fifth singles, dispatching him in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, to make it 3-2.
Third singles saw the Seahawks take a 4-2 overall lead as de Lange fell 6-4, 6-1, and Wagner was now just one victory away from securing the match win. The Gothic Knights did not go down without a fight as sophomore
Alejandro Ley (Las Palmas, Spain/I.E.S. Politécnico) strong-armed his opponent to the tune of a 6-4, 6-2, win at second singles to make it 4-3.
Then, almost simultaneously, the match looked to come down to a pair of three-set battles. Weiss won his first set at fourth singles, but dropped the second set 6-2. At the same time, Teynie was slogging his way through at first singles. After losing the first set 6-4, Teynie battled back to win the second 6-1 and force a third and decisive set.
The two matches were in their respective third sets at once, however Weiss' was unable to hold off his counterpart and Wagner locked in the win, 5-3 at the time. Not to be outdone, despite his team falling in the overall match, Teynie continued to play strong and eventually outperformed his opponent and secured the three-set comeback win, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
