Piotr Rusinkiewicz teamed with Ricky Bawa for a win against Wesleyan at No. 1 doubles.

ORLANDO, Fla. (March 12, 2007) – On Monday, the Stevens Institute of Technology men’s tennis team opened its spring trip to Florida with an 8-1 loss to Wesleyan University in Orlando.  Junior Ricky Bawa (Lyndhurst, N.J.) and freshman Piotr Rusinkiewicz (Califon, N.J.) provided the only win for the Ducks with a hard-fought 8-6 victory at No. 1 doubles.  With Monday’s loss, Stevens fell to 2-4 on the year.  The Cardinals improved to 3-3 overall.

Bawa opened singles play with a 6-3, 6-3 loss to senior Tallen Todorovich (Pound Ridge, N.Y.) in the first flight.  Senior Boris Kocherov (Edison, N.J.) dropped a 6-1, 6-0 decision to senior Jack Rooney (Rancho Murieta, Calif.) at second singles.  Rusinkiewicz suffered a 6-1, 7-6 (10-4) loss to junior Pauri Pandian (Hanover, Mass.) at third singles.  Junior Arjun Mehta (Brooklyn, N.Y.), sophomore Kobe Attias (Brick, N.J.) and freshman Russ Suereth (Hewitt, N.J.) fell in straight sets in fourth through sixth singles, respectively.

All three doubles contests were competitive.  Bawa and Rusinkiewicz led off with a win over Todorovich and Rooney.  Kocherov and Mehta dropped a narrow 8-5 decision at No. 2 doubles.  Attias and Suereth lost to sophomores Graham Immerman (Florence, Mass.) and Roy Chung (Sammamish, Wash.) at third doubles by the score of 8-6.

Stevens will be right back in action on Tuesday as the Ducks take on Springfield College at 8 a.m.