EWING, N.J. (Sept. 26, 2021) – After a dominating performance to open the 2021-22 season, the Stevens Institute of Technology men's tennis team continued its solid play in week two with 16 wins in 24 total competitions Saturday and Sunday at the TCNJ Invitational.
The Ducks took on student-athletes from New York University, The College of New Jersey and Vassar College and went 12-4 in singles play in the tournament while also earning four doubles victories to finish the competition with the most wins among the four institutions.
"I am very proud of our entire team this weekend," head coach
Steve Gachko said. "The positive energy was contagious, and we excelled in high pressure moments throughout the weekend. Two years ago, we underperformed at this event, so it is encouraging to come out as the top team and pull out some great wins against great competition. We are all excited to get some well-deserved rest tomorrow and finish out our fall season strong at the ITA tournament at Mary Washington [University] next weekend."
In two events known as "hidden duals" with no team scoring, Stevens played nine singles and four doubles matches against Vassar to open the invite on Saturday and followed it up with seven singles contests and four more doubles matchups against host TCNJ.
In singles play, the Ducks were led with victories on both days by senior
Marc Feliu and sophomore
Aashi Kulakarni. The reigning MAC Freedom Player and Rookie of the Year also were able to team up with teammates
Keegan Morris and
Sebastian Wroe to earn one doubles win apiece in the competition.
The doubles play, meanwhile, saw a pair of wins for the combination of sophomore
Andrew He and first-year
Olof Persson. He and Persson took down Vassar 8-1 and defeated TCNJ 8-6.
Feliu started the competition by falling behind against Vassar's Benjamin Almquist 0-6 before storming back to win the second set 6-0 and finishing things off with a 10-8 win in the tiebreaker. In his second competition, Feliu defeated TCNJ's Matthew Michibata after again dropping the first set and coming from behind 2-6, 6-4, 10-8.
Kulakarni, meanwhile, won both of his matchups in straight sets as he took down Vassar's Mihajlo Ivanovic 6-2, 7-5 and defeated Niokola Kilibarda of TCNJ 6-4, 6-4.
Elsewhere in singles play,
Vivek Harinarayan,
Matt Luzzi,
Troy Zhang, and
Eloi Pradier all straight set wins on the first day of competition against Vassar.
Andrew He also earned a win over Vassar's William Hwang with perhaps the most thrilling competition of the tournament. After dropping set one 1-6, He rallied back and won the second set 6-4 before taking a marathon tiebreak point 16-14.
The second day of singles play saw Wroe and Morris join Feliu and Kulakarni with victories over TCNJ.
In doubles competition, Stevens used the combination of Kulkarni and Wroe to earn an 8-6 win over Vassar's Ivanovic and Guruswamy.
Feliu and Morris teamed up to win the first doubles matchup of day two for the Ducks with an 8-5 victory over Wain and Michibata of TCNJ.
The Ducks will return to the court Friday, Oct. 1 through Monday, Oct. 3 for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) South Region Championship in Fredericksburg, Va., on the campus of Mary Washington University.
Singles Results
- Marc Feliu (Stevens) def. Benjamin Almquist (Vassar College) 0-6, 6-0, 10-8
- Vivek Harinarayan (Stevens) def. Arun Guruswamy (Vassar College) 6-3, 6-1
- Aashi Kulakarni (Stevens) def. Mihajlo Ivanovic (Vassar College) 6-2, 7-5
- Matt Luzzi (Stevens) def. James Balon (Vassar College) 6-4, 6-4
- Troy Zhang (Stevens) def. Nihal Kothari (Vassar College) 6-4, 6-3
- Andrew He (Stevens) def. William Hwang (Vassar College) 1-6, 6-4, 16-14
- Eloi Pradier (Stevens) def. Ronak Khara (NYU) 8-4
- Shrey Arora (NYU) def. Mark Pabalan (Stevens) 6-2
- Keegan Morris (Stevens) def. Justin Wain (TCNJ) 3-0, retired
- Marc Feliu (Stevens) def. Matthew Michibata (TCNJ) 2-6, 6-4, 10-8
- Adrian Tsui (TCNJ) def. Vivek Harinarayan (Stevens) 6-3, 1-6, 10-7
- Aashi Kulakarni (Stevens) def. Nikola Kilibarda (TCNJ) 6-4, 6-4
- Akul Telluri (TCNJ) def. Matt Luzzi (Stevens) 6-4, 6-3
- Sebastian Wroe (Stevens) def. Derek Jordan (TCNJ) 6-3, 3-6, 14-12
- Dorian Makarski (TCNJ) def. Andrew He (Stevens) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles Results
Facebook: "Like" Stevens Athletics
Twitter: @stevensducks
Instagram: @stevensducks
#AllRise
