Stevens Wins Eighth-Straight Empire 8 Title 5/6/2017 3:43:00 PM May 6, 2017 Results The Basics Score: No. 40 Stevens Institute of Technology Men's Tennis 5 Ithaca College 0 Location: Rochester, N.Y. Short Story: No. 40 Stevens Institute of Technology men's tennis team earned its eighth-straight Empire 8 Conference title with a 5-0 sweep of Ithaca College Saturday. The records: Stevens: 12-13; Ithaca: 13-6 Of note: Junior William Persson was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. How It Happened As was the case in the semifinals, Stevens jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the doubles flights. The senior team of Michael Feldman and Charles Drake opened the scoring with an 8-2 victory at No. 3 doubles for the second day in a row. Kyle Henry and Antonio Perich pushed the lead to 2-0 with an 8-4 win at No. 1 doubles and Persson and Divin Sarthak earned a hard-fought, 8-5 victory at second doubles to complete the trifecta. Persson pushed the lead to 4-0 with a 6-2, 6-3 over Michael Gardiner at No. 2 singles and Drake closed out the victory was a straight-set victory over Colten Lavery to give Stevens the championship After winning the first set, Kyle Henry was trailing 3-2 in the second set, Michael Feldman was up a set and 5-2 in the second set, and David Schulz was leading 1-0 and up 3-0 in the second set when the match concluded. Stevens has not lost an Empire 8 conference match since April 10, 2010. Singles Results Kyle Henry (STEVENS) vs. Minos Stavrakas (ITHACA) 7-6, unfinished William Persson (STEVENS) def. Michael Gardiner (ITHACA) 6-2, 6-3 Michael Feldman (STEVENS) vs. Wes Davis (ITHACA) 6-2, 5-2, unfinished Charles Drake (STEVENS) def. Colten Lavery (ITHACA) 6-3, 6-3 David Schulz (STEVENS) vs. Nathan Wolf (ITHACA) 6-4, 3-0, unfinished Max Prestwich (ITHACA) vs. Divin Sarthak (STEVENS) no result Doubles Results Kyle Henry/Antonio Perich (STEVENS) def. Michael Gardiner/Minos Stavrakas (ITHACA) 8-4 William Persson/Divin Sarthak (STEVENS) def. Wes Davis/Lorenzo Viguie-Ramos (ITHACA) 8-5 Charles Drake/Michael Feldman (STEVENS) def. Stefan Lazarevic/Nathan Wolf (ITHACA) 8-2 From the Court "I'm so proud of the discipline and self-belief we showed today from the first point of the day and across the board on all courts. We never let Ithaca into the match and our guys really stepped up to get the win without our top player in the lineup due to injury. We are all hungry to keep this season alive and make a run in the NCAA tournament." - head coach Steve Gachko "This season has been an absolute journey and the fight we gave today represents the mental toughness, determination, and maturity of this team. Like my teammates, I am beyond ecstatic to bring this momentum into the NCAA tournament. We are at a great point mentally and are going to give absolutely everything we have before send our seniors off." - William Persson. Up Next The eight-time Empire 8 champions will learn their NCAA destination when the tournament is announced Monday.