HOBOKEN, N.J. (May 1, 2011) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men’s tennis team rolled to a 7-2 win over rival Ithaca College on Sunday afternoon in its regular season finale, clinching the conference’s regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Empire 8 Championship next weekend. Sophomore Chris Rosensteel earned the fifth and clinching point of the match with a 6-3, 6-1 win over senior Josh Rifkin (Fort Wayne, Ind.) at No. 1 singles.
Stevens (11-5 overall, 6-0 Empire 8) swept the doubles points to take a 3-0 lead early as Rosensteel and fellow sophomore Shota Tasaki won a nail-biter over Rifkin and junior Jimmy Newton (Englewood, Fla.), 9-8 (7-4). Seniors Arik Zeevy and Jason Ringstad, playing the final home match of their careers, dominated sophomore Josh Berggrun (Moreland Hills, Ohio) and freshman David Anderson (Hastings on the Hudson, N.Y.), 8-0, at second singles, while fellow senior Carlo Pardo and junior Gregory Klose won by the same score over junior Dan Levine (Highland Mills, N.J.) and senior Les Bowden (Middletown, N.Y.) at the No. 3 doubles slot.
Ringstad earned the Ducks’ fourth point of the afternoon at No. 4 singles, defeating freshman Griffin Reid (Bolton, Conn.), 6-0, 6-4. Berggrun finally got the Bombers (9-7 overall, 7-1 Empire 8) on the board with a win over Tasaki at third singles, but Rosensteel was next to finish at No. 1 singles to lock up the win and the regular-season title for the Ducks.
Zeevy earned a win at second singles, downing Newton, 7-5, 6-4, for the sixth Stevens point of the match, and freshman Lopburi Sasinin earned a hard-fought, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), victory over sophomore Kyle Reither (Langhorne, Pa.) in fifth singles.
Ringstad (12-4), Rosensteel (13-5), and Zeevy (11-5) all end the regular season with more than 10 wins in singles matches. All three did not lose an Empire 8 match, combining to go 14-0. Sasinin also was undefeated in the Empire 8 regular season at 4-0.
Stevens will now head to Ithaca, N.Y. for the 2011 Empire 8 Men’s Tennis Championship. Matchups and the tournament schedule will be available on Monday, but the Ducks will be the No. 1 seed.