HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 23, 2013) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's tennis team will host undefeated No. 30 The College of New Jersey tomorrow, Wednesday, April 24 at 3:30 p.m. in the Ducks' final opportunity of the 2013 season to record the program's first-ever win over a ranked opponent.  The match could very well be a preview of a potential NCAA Tournament First or Second Round matchup if both teams qualify as expected.

TCNJ is just one win away from recording a perfect 15-0 season.  The team has lost just 12 of 83 individual matches and six of 42 doubles matches all season and has swept its last three contests, 9-0.  Senior Marc Nichols fronts the lineup at first singles with a 9-4 record while senior TJ Riley has gone 12-1 at second singles with a win in his only match at #1.  Junior Howard Telson has gone a solid 6-2 at fourth singles and 4-1 at fifth singles, with a win in his only match at #3, while senior Jordan Cruz is 7-1 at sixth singles.  Two Lions are making a run at undefeated seasons, with sophomore Jack August an unblemished 10-0 record at third singles with a 1-0 mark at second singles and freshman Pierce Cooper going for his 20^th win this year, having gone 8-0 at #5, 5-0 at #6 and 1-0 at #4 this spring.  Freshman Billy Buchbinder has been a wild card across four courts for the Lions, having gone 2-1 at third singles, 2-2 at fourth, 1-0 at fifth and 1-0 at sixth.

The match of the day will be at first doubles, as TCNJ boasts the No. 10 tandem in the Northeast in Nichols and Telson, who are an impressive 13-1 at the top court, while Buchbinder and Cruz have gone 7-2 at second doubles and 2-0 at threes.  Third doubles could be a bit of a toss-up, as August and Cooper paired to go 4-2 early in the year but August and Riley have since teamed up for a 3-0 mark at twos and a win in their only match at threes.

Stevens is 11-7 this spring, with all seven losses having come at the hands of nationally ranked opponents.  The Ducks will look to break that streak and pick up their first-ever win over a nationally ranked team as they continue to climb up the Northeast rankings, recently coming in at No. 13 (just five spots behind TCNJ at No. 9) before defeating No. 12 Vassar College last Wednesday and playing national No. 9 Middlebury College to a hard-fought 6-2 loss.

The Ducks have taken their games to another level since swapping court assignments, with freshman Northeast No. 15-ranked Matthew Heinrich (Hendersonville, Tenn.) 5-1 at first singles, with his only loss a drawn-out three-set affair against the Vassar's Andrew Guzick, the No. 5-ranked player in the Northeast.  Northeast No. 8 senior Chris Rosensteel (East Windsor, N.J.) has been rock-solid at second singles, going 3-2 with close losses to a pair of nationally ranked teams while comfortably sweeping his three Empire 8 victories.  Senior Shota Tasaki (Greenwich, Conn.) just lost a down-to-the-wire three-set battle at No. 9 Middlebury, ending his five-match unbeaten streak.  He is 3-1 at third singles having dropped just four total games in his three victories.  Freshman Ben Foran (Whitefish Bay, Wis.) just dropped a three-set match at No. 9 Middlebury as well for his only loss at fourth singles, while freshman Tyler Tisdale (Grapevine, Texas) is 8-9 between fourth and fifth singles and junior Derek Smith (Boise, Idaho) is 5-7 between fifth and sixth singles, also picking up a win at second singles against Hartwick College.

As formidable as the singles lineup is, Stevens' greatest strength is at doubles, where Heinrich and Rosensteel form the No. 3 pairing in the Northeast region, having gone 14-3 this spring and winning no fewer than four games in each of their rare losses.  Tasaki and Foran are one of the most dangerous duos in the Northeast at second doubles with a 10-4 record, 7-1 over their last eight matches; they have also won at least four games in every one of their losses, including two 9-8 tiebreakers and one 9-7 defeat.  Tisdale and Smith round things out at third doubles and have come on strong lately, posting an 8-4 record across all courts, including an 8-2 mark over their last 10 matches.

Stevens will be looking to avenge a 5-4 loss last spring in which TCNJ squeaked out victories at fourth, fifth and sixth singles as well as second and third doubles.  The teams also faced off this fall at the TCNJ Lion Invitational.  Over eight singles and four doubles matchups, TCNJ went 10-2, although Stevens did not trot out either Rosensteel or Foran while TCNJ held back August.  Heinrich and Tasaki picked up wins over Riley (7-5, 6-4) and Nichols (6-3, 1-0 [ret.]), respectively, for the Ducks' only victories.  Among other matches with players likely to take the courts tomorrow, Telson defeated Tisdale, 6-0, 6-1, while Cruz topped Smith, 6-0, 6-4 – a match Smith is likely to get another shot at tomorrow at sixth singles.  At doubles, Riley and Nichols paired to defeat Heinrich and Tasaki, 8-5, while Buchbinder and Cruz swept Smith and freshman J.T. Fischer (Houston, Texas), 8-0, and Telson and Cooper topped Tisdale and freshman Jacob Thigpen (Birmingham, Ala.), 8-1.

Opening serve for the doubles matches will be at approximately 3:30 p.m. at the CPA tennis Courts, with singles to follow (#1-4 at the CPA Tennis Courts, #5 and 6 across campus).  The Stevens Chess Club will also be sponsoring a tailgate, while the first 50 fans at the match will receive Stevens Athletics sunglasses.  Be sure to follow our live Twitter feeds and tweet us during the match: @StevensDucks and @Ducks_Tennis.