Box score

AMHERST, Mass. (May 10, 2013) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's tennis team advanced to its first-ever NCAA Championship Regional Final with a four-hour marathon 5-4 victory over No. 22 University of Mary Washington on Friday morning.

The Ducks will meet top-seeded sub-regional host No. 3 Amherst College in the Third Round of the tournament tomorrow, Saturday, May 11 at 9 a.m.

Ducks highlight video

The Ducks improve their record to 17-7 overall this year, while the Eagles end their season 14-11.  The victory marks the Ducks' second-ever against a ranked opponent, with Mary Washington the highest-ranked team the Ducks have ever beaten.

Freshman Ben Foran (Whitefish Bay, Wis.) and senior Shota Tasaki (Greenwich, Conn.) started Stevens off on the right foot with a quick break at second doubles to lead 3-0. Meanwhile, freshman Tyler Tisdale (Grapevine, Texas) and senior Derek Smith (Boise, Idaho) fell behind by a break at third doubles while the NCAA Individual Championships-bound ones pairing of freshman Matthew Heinrich (Hendersonville, Tenn.) and senior Chris Rosensteel (East Windsor, N.J.) held serve early.

The Eagles closed out the victory at third doubles, 8-1, before long to give Mary Washington the first point of the day while the first doubles team of sophomore Evan Charles and senior Sam Wichlin got a break at ones. Heinrich and Rosensteel responded immediately with back-to-back breaks to take a 6-3 lead, while Foran came up with two huge service aces to hold the 5-2 lead at twos, which he and Tasaki quickly extended to 7-2 with a fourth straight Ducks break between the two courts.

The Eagles were not finished yet, as they began to battle back on both courts, picking up a break at ones to go back on serve and fighting back from serving against match point to make it 7-3 at twos. Stevens was not about to let either lead slip away, however. Foran and Tasaki evened the overall match with an 8-3 win at second doubles, and Heinrich and Rosensteel sealed the 2-1 lead heading into singles play with an 8-5 victory at ones.

As singles play got underway, Mary Washington took back some momentum with early breaks at first, fifth and sixth singles. Heinrich broke right back on serve at one, however, and Rosensteel surged to a 5-2 lead at second singles while Tasaki stayed on serve through 4-3 before taking the first set with a break. Smith and Tisdale dropped their first sets at fifth and sixth singles and were followed by Foran dropping his at fourth singles, but the top of the Ducks' lineup held strong, with Rosensteel taking a one-set lead at #2 while Heinrich grinded out a 2-1 lead at first singles.

Sophomore Kaleb Nguyen evened the match for Mary Washington with a sweep at sixth singles and Wichlin added another victory at fifth singles to give the Eagles the 3-2 lead. Mary Washington began to take control of the match, getting breaks at third and fourth singles, but Heinrich and Rosensteel still kept the Ducks' hopes up at #1 and 2, with Heinrich taking a one-set lead while Rosensteel broke early for a 3-0 edge in the second set.

The Eagles continued clawing back, breaking back on serve at #2 and coming within one point of clinching the match with a 6-1, 6-2 victory at fourth singles. Junior Alex Blakhin fought all the way back to force a third set against Rosensteel at second singles, as did Charles against Tasaki at third singles. Blakhin then went up an early break while Tasaki took a 4-0 lead at #3.

With no margin for error, the Ducks veterans took the team on their shoulders with the program's first-ever Third Round appearance at stake. Rosensteel recorded back-to-back breaks to go up 5-3 while Tasaki was broken twice but held serve to lead 6-5 at third singles. Tasaki quickly played himself into match point at 30-40 and Charles faulted on his first serve, but then called an injury timeout with a leg cramp.

During the intermission, Rosensteel finally closed out second singles, 6-3, to even the match and bring all eyes onto third Charles and Tasaki. With injury time up, Charles came out and won a point to stay alive and force a deuce, and six match points later, Tasaki came out on top to give the Ducks the 5-4 victory in one of Stevens' most thrilling wins in any sport this year.  The victory was also Tasaki's 60th of his career, moving him into sole possession of third place all-time at Stevens.

Head Coach Steve Gachko and the Ducks will take on No. 3 Amherst (28-8) tomorrow, Saturday, May 10 at 9 a.m.

 Amherst Regional

First Round – Thursday, May 9
TCNJ def. Babson                                                              5-1
Stevens def. Baruch                                                           5-0
 
Second Round – Friday, May 10
No. 3 Amherst def. TCNJ                                                   5-0
Stevens def. No. 22 Mary Washington                            5-4
 
Third Round – Saturday, May 11                                  
No. 3 Amherst vs. Stevens                                               9 a.m.