Heinrich Falls In ITA Final
Danny Vohden
SUMTER, S.C. (October 11, 2014) – Stevens Institute of Technology men's tennis junior
Matthew Heinrich fell in the finals of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Small College Championship Saturday morning.
The four day tournament is being held at The Palmetto Tennis Center in Sumter, S.C.
Battling freshman Nicolas Chua from Chicago College, Heinrich fell behind early in the first set 1-4 before dropping it 6-1. Chua once again took an early lead in the second set, but Heinrich battled back to keep it close at 2-3, 3-4, then 4-5. That would be all Heinrich would score though, as Chua finished off the match with a second set 6-4 win.
The loss marks the end of a banner fall for Heinrich who was named an ITA All-American for the second time in his career after cruising to the Northeast Regional championship in September, dropping only one set in singles along the way. Prior to that, Heinrich reached the singles final of the Stony Brook Invitational in a field that featured five Division I opponents.
"I could not be more proud of what Matt and Ben did these last few days in South Carolina," head coach
Steve Gachko said. "We once again made program history and competed with class and a lot of heart. I was most impressed with how we bounced back from a grueling 10-8 loss in the third set super breaker to Pomona, then take down Chicago in straight sets just one hour later to finish in third place in doubles. The fact that we didn't ultimately win the whole tournament will without a doubt motivate these guys to continue to work even harder in the offseason."
Heinrich and the rest of the Ducks will regroup this offseason before returning to action this winter in search of a fifth straight Empire 8 Conference championship, and a sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance.