Flushing, N.Y. -- The St. Johns mens tennis team improved their BIG EAST record to 2-1 with 5-2 win over Connecticut. In an afternoon match at the USTA National Tennis Center, the Red Storm pulled out the victory with a deciding match at No. 3 singles.

At No. 1 doubles Erik Scharf (Bronxville, N.Y.) and Jake Maxwell (Glen Cove, N.Y.) proved why they are one of the best doubles teams in the region, improving their record to 7-3. E. Scharf and Maxwell easily took the match 8-3 over Mike Furman and Joe Lang. At the other two doubles positions, SJU struggled. Brian Scharf (Bronxville, N.Y.) and Christian Carere (Brampton, Canada) battled for the win at the No. 2 spot. Eventually, B. Scharf and Carere fell 9-7 to Luke Crimshaw and Andy Sweat. UConn also took the third doubles set, 8-3 when Bryan Adinolfi and Max Zubatsky proved to be too much for Fabian Carchi (Corona, N.Y.) and Cameron Lore (Toronto, Canada). The Red Storm trailed 0-1 going into singles action.

No. 1 player, E. Scharf cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 win over Furman. E. Scharf continues to exemplify why he is one of the best players in the region. E. Scharf, 25-4 overall, remains undefeated with a 10-0 record at the No. 1 position in team play.

The Red Storm captured the second and fourth positions without trouble. Carchi (8-6 overall) put Zubatsky away with a 6-2, 6-3 score. This win marked Carchis first victory all season at the No. 2 spot. B. Scharf coasted to a 6-2, 6-0 win over Crimshaw. B. Scharf (8-4) has not lost at the fourth spot since the match versus Brown University.

Carere was unable to continue his two-match winning streak. Carere (3-6) fell to Adinolfi, 6-4, 6-1. The score now stood at 3-2 in favor of the Red Storm. St. Johns needed one more win to seal the victory.

At the No. 3 spot, Maxwell dropped the first set 3-6 to Sweat and rebounded with a 6-4 victory in the second set. Meanwhile, at the fifth position Lore won the first set, 6-3, but then fell 5-7 in the second set. Both matches were forced to third sets. The whole match rested on these third sets. Maxwell battled through leg cramps to emerge with a 6-3 victory in his third set. Maxwells win gave St. Johns the needed point. This is the second time in his career that Maxwell has won the deciding match over UConn. Though the team win was sealed, Lore continued to play a back-and-forth battle with Lang. In a thrilling match, Lore pulled out the victory with a 7-5 win in the third set. Lores win may prove to be crucial in the event of a tie with another BIG EAST team when the time comes for championships seeding.

St. Johns has now won four in a row (5-5 overall, 2-1 in the BIG EAST). The Red Storm head to Stony Brook tomorrow to take on the Seawolves at 2 pm. The mens tennis team will play a home match at the National Tennis Center on Thursday at 2:30 pm versus BIG EAST rival, Rutgers.