Fox, Stanley among leaders for SSU men's tennis; Geremia wins first match at SSU with 4-3 triumph over Mount Vernon Nazarene
MOUNT VERNON, Ohio -- Behind the continuous excellent play of Ryan Fox at No. 1 singles and doubles, along with a big performance by Fox's doubles partner, Adam Stanley, at No. 4 singles and victories by Zinedine Arva Purbo at No. 2 singles and the doubles tandem of Daniel Cristobal and Aiden Pine at No. 2 doubles, the men's tennis program at Shawnee State claimed its first victory of the 2024-25 campaign -- and Shawnee State men's and women's tennis coach Greg Geremia collected his first career collegiate head coaching victory in the process as the Bears defeated Mount Vernon Nazarene, 4-3, in a nonconference contest that was held Wednesday evening at the Ramser Tennis Courts in Mount Vernon.
Shawnee State (1-2) got excellent efforts throughout the day from Fox and Stanley, in particular. Fox, who capped off a terrific fall season, teamed with Stanley to collect a 6-2 victory over Andrew Hare and Matt Easter at No. 1 doubles, then added in a dominating 6-0, 6-2 victory over Hare at No. 1 singles as well to cap an impressive performance in short order.
Stanley performed similarly convincing work at No. 4 singles himself -- as the Clayton, Ohio native posted a 6-2, 6-0 triumph over Noah Hill at the position.
In arguably the biggest win of the entire match, the play of Daniel Cristobal and Aiden Pine at No. 2 doubles proved to be huge -- as the pair outlasted Hill and Mount Vernon Nazarene's Blake Boyer en route to claiming a 7-5 decision at the position.
While Zinedine Arva Purbo and Matthew Justice dropped their No. 3 doubles decision to Mount Vernon Nazarene's Lucas Gray and Zane Menzie by a 3-6 margin, Purbo rallied with a big victory at No. 2 singles as the Jakarta, Indonesia product defeated Easter in a rather convincing 6-1, 6-3 decision at the slot.
Even in a setback at No. 3 singles, Justice played well -- dropping a thrilling 5-7, 7-5, 8-10 decision to Menzie that came down to the wire, while fellow local product Taylor Pack also provided a great showing at No. 6 singles as Pack fell by a tight 5-7, 6-7 (6-7) margin to Mount Vernon Nazarene's Ryan Almovodar. Aiden Pine took four games himself at No. 5 singles before dropping his match to Boyer, 0-6, 4-6 -- but the Bears had done more than enough to seal the match with the aforementioned victories.
Wednesday's victory on the men's tennis side marks the first career win for Geremia as a head coach, who was brought on as the head coach of the Shawnee State men's and women's tennis programs in August. Geremia, a Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) certified tennis instructor who has worked full-time as a tennis professional at the Ashland Tennis Center in Ashland, Ky. for the past seven years and as a part-time tournament director for the Greater Ashland Tennis Association for over five years, won three 16th Region Doubles Championships and also played a role in winning four 16th Region Championships while with Ashland (Ky.) Paul Blazer High School -- helping the Tomcats extend their streak of 16th Region titles to 10 consecutive as a player.
The match concludes the fall schedule for the Shawnee State women's tennis program. An update on who the Bears will play during the spring portion of its schedule will be provided as details become official.
