Stevens Opens Empire 8 Play With Two Convincing Wins
The Stevens Institute of Technology men's tennis team capitalized on a quick-start, as they rolled over Ithaca College 8-1 and Elmira 6-0 on Saturday.
The Ducks wasted no time in picking up where they left-off in conference play last season, as they stormed out to a 3-0 lead thanks to a doubles sweep. Sophomores
Ben Foran and
Tyler Tisdale moved their record to 4-0 in doubles with a convincing 8-1 win at No. 3. Sophomore
Matthew Heinrich and freshman
Antonio Perich followed suit with an 8-3 win at No. 1 over sophomore Zach Passman and junior Justin Levine.
The freshman duo of
Michael Feldman and
Charles Drake continued the winning with an 8-2 win at No. 2 over senior David Anderson and freshman Wes Davis.
Ithaca tried to get back into the match with a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 6 singles for Davis over Tisdale, but the Ducks quickly regained control, winning the final five matches. Heinrich moved his singles record to 8-3 with a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 1 over senior Griffin Reid, followed by a win at No. 3 for Feldman over sophomore Chris Hayes to clinch the match.
Foran bested sophomore Zach Passman at No. 2 before Stevens concluded the match with two exciting wins. At No. 4, Drake and Anderson split the first two sets, setting up a tiebreaker win in the third. At No. 5, Perich took the first set 6-3 over Levine before completing the win with a tiebreaker win in the second.
Against Elmira freshmen
Charles Drake and
Michael Feldman started the Ducks winning ways with an 8-2 win over sophomores Austin Mansell and Satchal Waters. Freshman
Brett Derrington and sophomore
Jacob Thigpen followed suit with an 8-6 win at No. 2 in their first match as doubles partners. The Ducks completed the sweep with a win at No. 1 for sophomore
Matthew Heinrich and freshman
Antonio Perich over senior Sam Pine and junior Keith Bujak.
The winning didn't stop for Stevens once the singles matches started. Heinrich extended the win streak to four with a 6-2, 6-0 win over sophomore Pavle Vashakidze at No. 1, followed by a win at No. 3 for Perich over Pine to clinch the match. The teams concluded the match at No. 2 with Feldman's 6-1, 6-0 win over Bujak.
The match was suspended after the third singles match due to poor court conditions.