No. 40 Ducks Split Season-Opening Double Header
Danny Vohden
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (February 21, 2015) – The No. 40 Stevens Institute of Technology men's tennis team opened its season with a 5-4 win against North Carolina Wesleyan College before falling to No. 15 Mary Washington University, 6-3.
The pair of matches were part of the two-day Mary Washington invitational. The Ducks will conclude the tournament tomorrow with a 9 a.m. match against No. 26 Denison University.
No. 40 Stevens 5, N.C. Wesleyan 4
The Ducks stormed out to a big lead with a sweep at doubles. Freshmen
Danny Polk and sophomore
Michael Feldman turned a 6-4 lead into an 8-4 win at No. 2 before juniors
Matthew Heinrich and
Ben Foran picked-up where they left off from the fall season with an 8-3 win at No. 1.
Freshmen
Kyle Henry teamed with junior
Tyler Tisdale to take a 6-6 tie to a 9-7 tiebreaker win at No. 3 to complete the sweep.
North Carolina Wesleyan battled back with a win at No. 2 before taking another point with a win over Heinrich at No. 1. N.C. Wesleyan followed with a win at No. 3 over Polk, but sophomore
Charles Drake got the Ducks back on top with a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 4.
Needing a win, Henry took the first set 6-2 at No. 6 before taking the second 7-6 in a tiebreaker to clinch the match win for Stevens.
No. 15 Mary Washington 6, No. 40 Stevens 3
After dropping a point at No. 3 doubles, Heinrich and Foran got the Ducks on the board with an 8-5 win at No. 1 in a match they held the lead throughout. Polk and Feldman followed-suit with an 8-6 win at No. 2 to give the Ducks the 2-1 advantage heading into singles.
Heinrich continued the Ducks winning with a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 1, but Mary Washington responded with a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 3. The Eagles overcame a first set loss over Foran to then take No. 2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, tying the score at three with three matches to go.
Polk dropped the first set at No. 4 6-2 before dropping the second 6-2, setting up for Mary Washington to take the match victory with a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 6. The Eagles finished off the match with win at No. 5 over Drake.