April 23, 2005

Tampa, FL - The St. John's men's tennis team claimed third place at the 2005 BIG EAST Championship with a 4-3 win over the No. 2 seeded Boston College Eagles. The finish marks the first time since 2000 that the Red Storm have finished in the top three.

With the score knotted at three, Morgan Bauer won his No. 5 match in straight sets to lead the Red Storm to the win.

St. John's got ahead early as they picked up wins at the No. 3 and No. 1 doubles positions for the first point of the match. Todd Goldberg teamed up with Aurelio DiZazzo and won quickly, 8-1, at the No. 3 position. David Nylen and Bauer took the No. 1 match, 8-4 to St. John's the edge.

In singles, Nylen won at the No. 1 position, beating Soma Kesthely 6-3, 6-1. Boston College tied the match at two-all after taking the No. 3 and No. 6 matches in straight sets.

Claudio Halim put the Red Storm ahead once again, with a win at the No. 4 slot. After dropping the first set, Halim fought back to win the close second set 7-5, and dominated the third set, 6-1, for the win. The Eagles' Chris McCoy knotted the match at three, leaving Bauer on the court in the decisive match at the No. 5 position.

Bauer and Chris Louis played to a tiebreaker in the first set, with Bauer edging his opponent 7-5. Bauer went on to win with a 6-4 score in the second set that clinched the third place finish for the Red Storm.