Elmira Rolls Over Penn College, 9-0, for Second Straight Win
Score: Elmira College 9 – Pennsylvania College of Technology 0
Records: Elmira (2-3), Penn College (0-5)
Location: Murray Athletic Center – Pine Valley, N.Y.
PINE VALLEY, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's tennis team wasted little time and left little doubt as to the outcome of today's match, as the Soaring Eagles cruised past visiting Pennsylvania College of Technology by a 9-0 final score. With the win, EC improved to 2-3 on the year and has won two consecutive matches, both of which have taken place inside the friendly confines of the Murray Athletic Center.
Elmira flexed its muscle early on in doubles action by winning all three matches by identical 8-0 scores. EC's dominance in doubles trickled into the singles portion of today's contest, as the Purple and Gold marched away victorious in straight sets in each of the nine matches, winning 72-of-77 games played in the process.
Rookie
Theo Tran '20 continued to impress at first singles with a no-nonsense 6-0, 6-0 victory for his second straight singles win. The Houston, Texas, native also teamed up with
Patrick Tracey '18 for an 8-0 drubbing of the Wildcats at first doubles, as the top tandem improved to 3-1 on the young season.
Tracey followed similar suit as Tran with a clinical 6-0, 6-0 win at the number three singles position to bring his 2016-17 singles record to an even 3-3 mark. Tracey and Tran were the only two players to not concede a single game this evening, going a combined 32-0 against their adversaries from Penn College.
Anthony Colavito '20 surrendered just two games at second singles, 6-1, 6-1, en route to the third victory of his freshman year. Colavito was also a double-winner this evening thanks to an 8-0 win at third doubles with third-year netter
Yaniv Kogan '18, who collected a 6-0, 6-1 win at the fifth singles position. It marked the 20th career singles victory for Kogan, who took over sole possession of sixth place in EC's record book.
The hits kept coming with another convincing singles win, as
Chris Konow '18 rolled to a 6-1, 6-0 victory at the fourth spot. Similar to his four aforementioned teammates, Konow was the final double-winner of the day as he joined former high school teammate,
Stephen Gervase '20, for an 8-0 triumph at the second doubles spot.
Rounding out today's contest was second-year starter
Jordan Curtis '19, who made quick work of his opponent at sixth singles, 6-1, 6-0. With the win, Curtis evened his 2016-17 dual-match record to 2-2 at the sixth position.
In His Own Words…
Head Coach
Tom Linhart shares his thoughts on Elmira's play this evening…
"I thought we played to our potential and really took control of the match. We executed the fundamentals really well, especially in doubles with closing the net and being the aggressors. In singles we played our game and dictated play from the opening serve, and I think the results showed."
Coach Linhart on getting a win, despite several challenges due to the Winter Storm Stella…
"Having an earlier season and playing more matches early on allows us to adjust to different sorts of things. It's tough when teams start late and they don't have a lot of time on the court. Luckily we had a good month-plus on the court, so we were really able to adapt, deal with the bad weather with missing some practices, and still be fresh for today's match."
Coach Linhart on how today's win helps EC's confidence heading into the final stages of non-conference play…
"We had to miss a few matches because of the bad weather we had, but to get a competitive match under our belt and win going into a few really busy weeks coming up is going to help us out. And getting a dominant win is always nice to really control a match and take care of business."
Scores
Singles
1.
Theo Tran (ELMIRA) def. Ethan Rosler (PENN) 6-0, 6-0
2.
Anthony Colavito (ELMIRA) def. Andrew Francisco (PENN) 6-1, 6-1
3.
Patrick Tracey (ELMIRA) def. Ben Morton (PENN) 6-0, 6-0
4.
Chris Konow (ELMIRA) def. Nicholas Pascual (PENN) 6-1, 6-0
5.
Yaniv Kogan (ELMIRA) def. Austin Adams (PENN) 6-0, 6-1
6.
Jordan Curtis (ELMIRA) def. Stephen Helminiak (PENN) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles
1. Tran/Tracey (ELMIRA) def. Rosler/Francisco (PENN) 8-0
2. Konow/Gervase (ELMIRA) def. Morton/Pascual (PENN) 8-0
3. Colavito/Kogan (ELMIRA) def. Adams/Helminiak (PENN) 8-0
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (3,1,2,4,5,6)
News and Notes
- Elmira picked up its second consecutive win.
- EC logged its first shutout victory of the year.
- The Soaring Eagles won 96-of-101 games played this evening.
- Elmira improved to 2-0 this season when sweeping the doubles matches.
- EC is 9-1 over the last two seasons when winning two-or-more doubles matches.
- Kogan's straight-set win gave the junior 20 for his career, a mark that ranks sixth all-time.
.