On Friday, April 17, Villanova’s men’s tennis season and Big East tournament run came to an end, after the Wildcats fell, 4-0, to No. 1-seeded St. John’s.
St. John’s (17-6, 5-0 Big East) had dominant performances in both doubles and singles play to secure the quarterfinals victory, ending the Wildcats’ (5-16, 0-5 Big East) 2026 season.
St. John’s took an early lead in the match, earning the doubles point with wins on courts No. 1 and No. 2. The Red Storm earned a 6-1 victory at No. 2 doubles before securing the point with a 6-2 win on court one.
Villanova picked up a strong result on No. 3, where the pairing of sophomores Jack Sherner and Quincy Jones earned a 6-3 victory, but it was not enough to bring Villanova back into the match.
“They were a good team and won the conference. Winning at No. 3 was great, both matches at No. 1 and 2 we were in it, but came up short with some deuce points. It was hard to climb back,” head coach Brad Adams said.
In singles play, the Red Storm surged on, continuing to dominate with three straight-set victories to clinch the match. At No. 1 singles, Radomir Tomic defeated senior Cooper Gordon 6-1, 6-0, while Semen Agynskyy followed at No. 3 with a 6-1, 6-0 win over junior Will Monahan. Venedikt Tsirikidze then sealed the run at No. 5 singles, beating junior Kush Anand 6-0, 6-3, securing St. John’s 4-0 victory.
“Our approach to the point needs work,” Adams emphasized regarding the team’s performance. “We need more confidence in ourselves. We went into the deuce point a bit defensively, not taking a chance, and let our opponent dictate the point. I’d rather lose playing offensively than defensively.”
Despite the final score, the Wildcats were persistent on the remaining courts. Junior Ethan Carr held a 7-5, 2-2 lead at No. 2 singles until St. John’s clinched victory, and junior Thomas Wakefield and sophomore Cameron Kruep continued to fight before having to abandon their matches.
Adams was able to take some positives out of the result.
“Our singles bright spot was Ethan winning his first set. Thomas and Cam were in good battles and showed toughness. They stepped up and played well,” Adams said.
With the loss, Villanova’s season comes to a close. The defeat caps a difficult stretch against conference opponents and ends the Wildcat’s run in the tournament.
“It was a development year for sure,” Adams said, reflecting on this season. “Five guys will be seniors, and I think all the juniors have raised their game during their time here. If they keep the work ethic and mentality, we will find a match that will click and move on from there. We should go into it [our first matches] with more confidence and trust that we can compete at a high level against some of these ranked teams,” Adams said, looking forward to the next year’s season.
Despite the setback, the program will look to carry forward the lessons learned from a challenging year as it resets and builds toward next season.