Heinrich and Rosensteel Cap Season with Tight NCAA Doubles Loss to Top Seed
Mark Becker
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (May 23, 2013) – Stevens Institute of Technology men’s tennis freshman ITA Rookie of the Year
Matthew Heinrich (Hendersonville, Tenn.) and senior all-time wins leader
Chris Rosensteel (East Windsor, N.J.) led in both sets against top-seeded California Lutheran University’s Nicholas Ballou and Raymond Worley but ultimately fell, 7-6 (4), 6-3.
Heinrich and Rosensteel end the season with a 21-4 record at first doubles this season, breaking a handful of program records.
The first set was a thriller right from the start as Heinrich held the opening serve before the Ducks jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a quick break. Ballou and Worley broke back on serve in the next game, but Heinrich and Rosensteel responded with another break to regain the advantage. Heinrich held serve again to make it 4-1 but Cal Lutheran’s duo got their second break and held serve for the first time to cut the lead back to one at 4-3. The Stevens pairing came up with another huge break to come within one game of clinching the opening set, but despite serving with two sets points were broken back on serve for the third time. Both teams held serve through the next three games to force a tiebreaker, in which they traded points until the Kingsmen rattled off three straight to go up 5-2 and eventually take the set with a 7-6 (4) victory.
Stevens’ pairing bounced back immediately with a break to start the second set and the teams traded two more breaks before Rosensteel held serve to give the Ducks a 3-1 lead. Ballou and Worley finally took control, however, winning the final five games to take the match.
The Ducks ended their season as a team two weeks ago, having advanced farthest in the NCAA Championship in program history and finishing one win shy of the all-time program record of 18 (set in 2009-10) with a 17-8 record, with all eight losses coming at the hands of national top-27 opponents. Stevens picked up its first-ever wins over ranked opponents in No. 30 The College of New Jersey (
6-3) and No. 22 University of Mary Washington (
5-4) in the Second Round while shattering the individual records books despite playing by far their most difficult schedule ever, which included 10 top-30 opponents. Heinrich, the Empire 8 Athletic Conference Rookie and Player of the Year, capped the Ducks’ individual awards,
earning ITA National Rookie of the Year recognition on Wednesday. The Ducks were ranked No. 8 in the Northeast region of the May 2 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rankings and could earn their first-ever national Top-30 ranking in the final release of the year on June 6.