Box score

HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 27, 2013) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's tennis team closed out its regular season with an 8-1 victory over Empire 8 Conference foe Nazareth College on Saturday afternoon to finish a perfect 7-0 in conference play for the third straight year.

Stevens improves to 13-7 overall, with all seven losses having come to nationally ranked opponents, and a perfect 7-0 in Empire 8 play for the third straight season.  Nazareth drops to 6-11 (5-2).

The Ducks swept doubles comfortably, with freshman Matthew Heinrich (Hendersonville, Tenn.) and senior Chris Rosensteel (East Windsor, N.J.) taking first doubles, 8-0, with freshman Tyler Tisdale (Grapevine, Texas) and junior Derek Smith (Boise, Idaho) did the same at third doubles.  Senior Shota Tasaki (Greenwich, Conn.) and freshman Ben Foran (Whitefish Bay, Wis.) completed the sweep with an 8-3 win at second doubles, giving Stevens the 3-0 lead heading into singles play.

Stevens carried the momentum into singles, with the Ducks taking courts one-through-five in straight sets.  Tasaki swept his match at third singles, 6-0, 6-0, while Heinrich and Rosensteel cruised to victories at first (6-3, 6-0) and second (6-1, 6-4) singles, respectively.  Foran won at #4, 6-3, 6-1, and Tisdale picked up the point at fifth singles, 6-2, 6-4.  The Ducks' only loss came at sixth singles, where Smith dropped a tight battle that went to a third-set tiebreaker, 6-4, 5-7, 10-8.

Head Coach Steve Gachko and the Ducks will host the Empire 8 Championship next weekend, with semifinals matches taking place on Saturday, May 4 and the finals contested on Sunday, May 5.  No. 1 seed Stevens will face No. 4 St. John Fisher College at 10 a.m., followed by No. 2 Nazareth versus No. 3 Ithaca College at 2 p.m. (in the event of inclement weather, both matches will take place simultaneously at 9:30 a.m. at the Centercourt of Morristown.