HILTON HEAD, S.C. – The Stevens Institute of Technology men’s and women’s tennis teams wrapped up their spring break schedules on Friday morning against Nazareth (N.Y.). The men dropped a narrow 4-3 decision while the women lost 9-0.
The men were led by freshman Boris Kocherov (Edison, N.J./Edison), senior Ariel Kemelman (Milltown, N.J./Spotswood) and freshman Ian Mullican (Gillette, N.J./Oratory Prep) all of whom turned in straight set victories third, fourth and fifth singles respectively as the teams split the six singles matches. Nazareth captured all three doubles matches to earn the doubles point and secure the win.
The women were not able to break into the win column against a strong Nazareth team which won 9-0. The best showings were by junior Kathy Martinez (Rockland, N.Y./Ramapo), at second singles and freshman Laura Coleman (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) at fifth singles. Martinez took the first set 6-3, but couldn’t hold on, dropping second set, 6-4 and the tiebreak third set, 10-5. Coleman came back after a first-set loss to take the second 7-6 (7-5 in the tiebreaker). The tiebreak third set was close with the lead going back and forth until the 22nd point went to Beth Chelus of Nazareth for the win.
"We came south to prepare our men for the upcoming spring season and to get our women some spring matches," head coach Jeff Bloomberg said. "We definitely reached our goals. The men are match tough and ready to go for the Skyline Conference Championship while the women will be use to playing both fall and spring. The trip showed us we need to work on doubles and that’s what we’ll concentrate on throughout the remainder of the spring season.
The best showings of the week were by Martinez for the women and Kocherov and Dave Asis (Jersey City, N.J./McNair) for the men. Martinez, had to move up to second singles from her usual 5 or 6 spot and played commendably. Kocherov, started the week at the eighth position in singles and wound up playing third by the end of the trip. It took team captain, Dave Asis a couple of matches to find his groove and by the end of the trip was beginning to show he can handle whatever his opponent can throw at him.
The teams will fly home Saturday morning and the men will open their home schedule on Wednesday, March 24 against CCNY.
MEN: NAZARETH 4, STEVENS 3
1st DOUBLES – Dargot/Klempka (N) def. Su/Kocherov 8-6
2nd DOUBLES – Baldwin/Noble (N) def. Quintana/Asis 8-6
3rd DOUBLES – Mitch Graves/Traub (N) def. Kemelman/Yuriy Stelmakh 9-7
EXHIBITION - Jon Garcia/Mullican (S) def. Nazareth 8-4
(Best 2-of-3 doubles worth one team point)
1st SINLGES – Jeff Dargot (N) def. Steve Su (S) 7-5, 6-2
2nd SINGLES – Ben Klempka (N) def. Diego Quintana 6-0, 6-2
3rd SINGLES – Boris Kocherov (S) def. Matt Noble 7-5, 6-3
4th SINGLES – Ariel Kemelman (S) def. Andrew Baldwin 6-3, 6-3
5th SINGLES – Ian Mullican (S) def. Tim Sorge 6-4, 6-1
6th SINGLES – Eric Traub (N) def. Dave Asis 6-4, 6-3
WOMEN: NAZARETH 9, STEVENS 0
1st DOUBLES – Medina/Klempka (N) def. Munger/Martinez 8-5
2nd DOUBLES – Kucheryaurenko/Angela Tessoni (N) def. Yulo/Coleman 8-0
3rd DOUBLES – Gaddis/O’Brien (N) def. Woodrow/Coleman 8-3
1st SINLGES – Andrea Gaddis (N) def. Kari Munger 7-5, 6-2
2nd SINGLES – Ann Kucheryaurenko (N) def. Kathy Martinez 3-6, 6-4,(10-5)
3rd SINGLES – Robin Medina (N) def. Tina Yulo 6-0, 6-0
4th SINGLES – Betsy O’Brien (N) def. Suzanne Woodrow 6-3, 6-1
5th SINGLES – Beth Chelus (N) def. Laura Coleman 6-1, 6-7 (5), (12-10)
6th SINGLES – Liz Zimmerli (N) def. Amy Pavlakovich 6-0, 6-0
