WEST WINDSOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. (September 15, 2019) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's tennis team started their fall schedule with the annual Stevens Invitational. The first event of the year was a two-day format where the Ducks competed in singles competition on Saturday and doubles on Sunday at the Mercer County Tennis Courts. The tournament field for singles play was New York University, The College of New Jersey, Wilkes University and Ithaca College. Stevens faced TCNJ and NYU in singles and doubles competition to round out the weeknd Both TCNJ and NYU were present in the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association regional rankings.

Day One
Stevens took on TCNJ in the first grouping Saturday and came away with three victories. Sophomore Marc Feliu picked up where he left off one season ago and won his opening match in straight sets over Matthew Michibata, 6-2, 6-3. Feliu captured both the Empire 8 Conference Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors after a 44-win freshman campaign.

Junior Mark Kanevsky defeated Gokul Murugesan, 6-2, 6-3 ito start his season on a high note. The third Duck to come away with a victory in the opening round as junior Gabriel Sifuentes posted a straight-set win over Akul Telluri, 6-0, 6-2. Sifuentes finished the opening day with a perfect 2-0 record after bestin Rahul Das, 4-6, 6-3, 10-6.

Junior Keegan Morris battled Justin Wain in his season opener, but came up just short in a three-set thriller 4-6, 7-5, 11-9.

Freshman Philip Szkudlarski made his collegiate debut for the Ducks and battled gamely against Joshua Piatos, dropping the first set before coming back in the second set to force a winner-take-all final set. The freshman was unable to complete the comeback as he fell 11-9 in the final set. Sophomore Mark Pabalan joined Morris in picking up their first wins of the season in straight sets against their respective opponents. Pabalan won 6-2, 7-5 against Ithaca's Max Sobel, while Morris topped Wilkes' Larry Scartz 6-3, 6-1 in the final grouping of the day..

Day Two
The Ducks turned their attention to doubles competition Sunday and opened play against TCNJ, with the teams splitting the four matches. Feliu and Morris got off to a strong start with an 8-4 win over Thomas Wright and Gokul Murugesan. Junior Arjun Krishnan and sophomore Garrett Kincaid picked up the second win for the Ducks with a gritty 8-7 win over Nikola Kilibarda and Andrew Mok. The Ducks' fourth pairing won the tiebreaking point with a 7-4 margin.

Stevens and NYU matched up to round out the weekend. The pairing of Feliu and Morris picked up their second win of the day, topping Alex Yang and Christian Otero, 8-4. The tandem is aiming to contend for the doubles title next month at the ITA Atlantic South Regional Championships.

Up Next: The men's tennis team will have a few weeks of preparation before they take to the courts in Fredericksburg, Va. at the ITA Atlantic South Regional Championships. The four-day tournament will start on Thursday, Oct. 3.

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