Ithaca Dominates; NYU Edges Stevens
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Ithaca College men's tennis team improved to 3-5 overall and evened its Empire 8 record to 1-1 with a 9-0 victory over Utica College on Wednesday afternoon at the Wheeler Tennis Courts. Ithaca continues conference play Saturday at noon in a home dual match against Hartwick.
The Bombers dropped just three games among the seven completed matches, and earned victories by default at sixth singles and third doubles. In the doubles matches, Ithaca won both by scores of 8-1.
Justin Levine and
Zach Passman picked up the first-doubles win and
Joey Hanf and
Nate Wolf were winners at the second position.
In singles play, four matches were won by 6-0, 6-0 scores. Those winners included
Chris Hayes at two,
Wes Davis at three,
Kyle VanDelden at four and
Alex Krugman at five.
Griffin Reid was a 6-0, 6-1 winner at first singles.
Ithaca 9, Utica 0
Singles competition
1.
Griffin Reid (IC) def. Raphael Warnon (UTICA) 6-0, 6-1
2.
Chris Hayes (IC) def. Daniel Fadden (UTICA) 6-0, 6-0
3.
Wes Davis (IC) def. Matt Rogers (UTICA) 6-0, 6-0
4.
Kyle VanDelden (IC) def. Ryan Valle (UTICA) 6-0, 6-0
5.
Alex Krugman (IC) def. Phil Pham (UTICA) 6-0, 6-0
6.
David Keltz (IC) def. No player (UTICA), by default
Doubles competition
1.
Justin Levine/
Zach Passman (IC) def. Daniel Fadden/Raphael Warnon (UTICA) 8-1
2.
Joey Hanf/
Nate Wolf (IC) def. Phil Pham/Matt Rogers (UTICA) 8-1
3.
Alex Krugman/
Kyle VanDelden (IC) def. No player/No player (UTICA), by default
STEVENS
In a nearly five-hour seesaw clash, No. 23 New York University narrowly edged the Stevens Institute of Technology men's tennis team 5-4 on Wednesday in Hoboken.
The loss drops Stevens to 5-8 while NYU moved to 4-0.
Stevens benefited from its freshmen duo of
Charles Drake and
Michael Feldman, who gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead with a win at second doubles over junior C.J. Leong and sophomore Sidd Thangirala. It was the fourth win of the season for the pair, as they stormed out to an early lead and cruised to an 8-1 win.
NYU would answer with a win at No. 3 for the freshmen team of Han Ran Lim and Matt DeMichiel over sophomores
Ben Foran and
Tyler Tisdale, 8-6. The loss was the first of the season for the partners. Needing a win to gain the edge, sophomore
Matthew Heinrich and freshman
Antonio Perich delivered with an 8-6 win over senior Steven Wu and sophomore Aaron Meltzer. Wu and Meltzer came into the match with an undefeated record, and a No. 8 ranking in the Northeast.
The Violets seized control of the match once it shifted to singles with a 6-2, 6-2 win for Wu over Heinrich at No. 1, followed by a 6-4, 6-4 win for DeMichiel over Perich at No. 5. NYU extended their lead to 4-2 at No. 6 with Ren Lim's win over Tisdale, but Stevens stormed back with two straight wins.
Foran broke a 1-1 tie at No. 2 with a 6-3 win in the third set over Leong, followed by a come from behind win for Drake over Thangirala at No. 4. After dropping the first set 6-3, Drake rebounded with a 6-2 win in the second, then won in a tiebreaker in the third to tie the score at four. The match-up lasted nearly three hours.
The match came down to No. 3 between Feldman and Meltzer, where Meltzer won 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in a close, three-and-a-half-hour classic that had to switch courts midway through due to darkness. Meltzer is currently ranked the No. 25 best singles player in the Northeast.
NYU 5, Stevens 5
Doubles
Heinrich/Perich (STE) def. Wu/Meltzer (NYU) 8-6
Drake/Feldman (STE) def. Leong/Thangirala (NYU) 8-1
Ren Lim/DeMichiel (NYU) def. Foran/Tisdale (STE) 8-5
Singles
Wu (NYU) def. Heinrich (STE) 6-2, 6-2
Foran (STE) def. Leong (NYU) 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-3
Meltzer (NYU) def. Feldman (STE) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
Drake (STE) def. Thangirala (NYU) 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (8)
DeMichiel (NYU) def. Perich (STE) 6-4, 6-4
Ren Lim (NYU) def. Tisdale (STE) 6-4, 0-6, 6-3