Stevens Men's Tennis Advances to Second Round of NCAA Tournament With 5-0 Win over Neumann
May 2, 2008
From Stevens Institute of Technology Sports Information Release
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (May 2, 2008) – Fourth-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology defeated Pennsylvania Athletic Conference champion and fifth-seeded Neumann College, 5-0, in the first round of the NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Championship on Friday morning at the Battleground on the campus of the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va. Making its second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance, the Ducks will now face Trinity University (Texas) in the second round on Saturday at 9 a.m. The Tigers are currently ranked No. 1 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division III poll.
Stevens opened up the match against the Knights by sweeping all three doubles contests. At first doubles, senior Ricky Bawa (Lyndhurst, N.J.) teamed up with sophomore Piotr Rusinkiewicz (Califon, N.J.) for an 8-1 win over seniors Andrew Bitar (Dedham, Mass.) and John Slinka (Sickerville, N.J.). Freshmen Arik Zeevy (Irvington, N.Y.) and Jay Lee (San Diego, Calif.) followed with an 8-3 victory over senior Barry Harvey (Aston, Pa.) and sophomore Dan Harnos (Lanoka Harbor, N.J.) at No. 2 doubles. In the third-doubles match, freshmen Jason Ringstad (Fairbanks, Alaska) and Carlo Pardo (Whippany, N.J.) defeated freshmen Greg Bridgeman (Haddonfield, N.J.) and Christopher Brown (Eldersburg, Md.) by the final score of 8-5.
Needing to only win two more flights to secure the match, Stevens wasted little time as Bawa and junior Kobe Attias (Brick, N.J.) rolled to victories at second and sixth singles, respectively. Attias was the first to finish as he did not drop a game in his 6-0, 6-0 win over Harvey. Bawa clinched the Ducks’ first-ever win in the national tournament with a straight-sets victory (6-2, 6-0) against Bridgeman.
At the time the overall match was decided, Stevens was up in three of the four singles contests that were still being contested. Zeevy led Brown 6-3, 2-1 at first singles. Ringstad won the first set 6-3 and was up 1-0 in the second against Harnos at No. 4. Lee appeared in control versus Bitar at fifth singles as he was in front 6-1, 4-1. Rusinkiewicz trailed 6-3, 2-1 in his match with Slinka at third singles.
Friday’s victory over Neumann raised the Ducks’ overall record to 16-6 on the year and tied the school record for wins in a season. Last year, Stevens went 16-8 and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Salve Regina University, 5-0. The Knights had won 15 matches in a row before the loss to Stevens. Neumann closed out the year with a mark of 16-4.
The winner of Saturday’s match between Stevens and Trinity will advance to the regional finals, which will take place on Sunday at noon. In the other regional semifinal, Mary Washington will play either Washington & Lee University or Messiah College on Saturday at 11 a.m. Whoever wins Saturday’s UMW versus W&L/Messiah match will play the Stevens/Trinity winner on Sunday for a chance to advance to the national quarterfinals later this month.
The Mary Washington Sports Information Office will provide live updates of all the weekend’s action at http://www.umw.edu/athletics/sports/tennismen/ncaa_tournament_may_24_200.php.