PITTSFORD, N.Y. (May 4, 2019) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's tennis powered past No. 1 Houghton College 5-0 in the Empire 8 Championship finals on Saturday at the Mendon Racquet & Swim Club. Stevens reversed the result from March 30
th where they fell to Houghton in a very competitive match. Stevens moves to 14-9 on the year and qualify for the 2019 NCAA Championships. Houghton's impressive season on the courts comes to an end with a 11-4 overall record. Like their E8 semi-final, the Ducks grabbed an early lead and quickly clinched the match in singles competition. Freshman
Marc Feliu Gomez was named tournament MVP after going 2-0 in singles and doubles competition
.
"It felt great to bring the title home, especially being a young team and after going through a rough start in the beginning of the season," stated Feliu Gomez. "I am proud to see how far we've come and how the team came together to win some great matches and win the conference once again."
Sophomore
Bryan Szayna and March Feliu Gomez continue their winning ways in No. 1 doubles. The duo bested Louis-Guillame Garcia/Jake Fisher 8-2 in the first singles flight to get the first team point on the board for the Ducks. Sophomore
Mark Kanevsky and freshman
Arjun Krishnan increased Stevens lead to 2-0 after an 8-1 win in the No. 3 doubles flight. The sophomore pairing of
Keegan Morris and
Gabriel Sifuentes completed the doubles sweep with an 8-1 victory of their own in the second doubles flight.
The Ducks wasted no time in the singles competition to clinch their tenth consecutive conference title and punch their ticket to the NCAA Championships. Feliu Gomez took out Louis-Guillame Garcia in straight-sets 6-0, 6-1 to give Stevens a commanding 4-0 lead in the Championship final. Szayna followed suit with a straight-set win of his own 6-3, 6-1 to secure the win for the Ducks. Stevens closes out their impressive run the Empire 8 Conference with eleven overall titles.
"I'm very proud of how we competed today to capture our 10
th straight conference title," expressed Head Coach
Steve Gachko. "Our guys have shown a progression of growth and maturity throughout this season and we are hoping to keep this positive momentum going into NCAA's."
Up Next: The men's tennis team will be back in action in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Championships. Their opponent has yet to be determined, brackets will be released on Monday, May 6th.
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