Stevens Tops N.C. Wesleyan In Opening Weekend
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (February 26, 2017) – The No. 22 Stevens Institute of Technology men's tennis team topped N.C. Wesleyan 6-3 this weekend in the season-opening Mary Washington Invitational.
The Ducks dropped a pair of 9-0 decision in its other two matches in nationally-ranked showdowns with No. 27 Mary Washington, and No. 37 Sewanee.
No. 27 Mary Washington 9, No. 22 Stevens 0
Mary Washington jumped out to the early lead with a pair of 8-4 wins at first and second doubles, before completing the doubles sweep at third by edging Stevens' junior
William Persson and sophomore
Divin Sarthak in a breaker.
Stevens fell behind 4-0 with a 6-3, 6-1 loss at third singles, before Mary Washington clinched the match with a 7-6, 6-4 win at second over junior
Kyle Henry. Junior No. 47
Danny Polk also dropped a breaker in the first set at first, while Persson recovered from a first-set loss at fifth to take the second 6-2, before falling in the third.
The Mary Washington squad featured one doubles squad ranked regionally, while Brandon Griffin and Matthew Miles are reached ranked regionally at singles.
No. 22 Stevens 6, N.C. Wesleyan 3
Stevens bounced back nicely from its loss earlier in the day with a sweep at doubles over N.C. Wesleyan in match two. Polk and Senior
Michael Feldman started the surge with an 8-3 win at second, followed by a Persson/Sarthak win at third, 8-4.
Henry and freshman
Kyle Cenderelli completed the sweep in a hard-fought breaker win at first as the duo picked up its first win of the spring.
NCW answered with wins at second and first singles to pull within one, but junior
David Schulz got Stevens back on track with a 6-1, 6-2 win at fourth over Mark Sokolov. NCW once again got a point in a win at third, but it's all they would get in the match as straight-set wins for Persson and Cenderelli at fifth and sixth respectively sealed Stevens' first win of the season.
No. 37 Sewanee 9, No. 22 Stevens 0
A pair of 8-4 losses at first and second doubles put Stevens in an early hole, before Persson/Sarthak fell in a breaker at third as the Ducks fell behind 3-0.
Sewanee continued the momentum with a straight-set win at fourth singles, and clinched the match with a 6-4, 6-4 win at sixth. Feldman won the first set at third, but Sewanee took wins in each of the remaining sets to clinch its win.
Sewanee's doubles team of Andres Carro Avery Schober is ranked No. 11 regionally, while each entered the match with regional rankings at singles.
UP NEXT
Stevens will continues its grueling schedule Saturday with a road matchup at No. 30 Brandeis.