CHESTERTOWN, Md. (March 6, 2022) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's tennis team was down 4-3 with two matches still in-progress and proceeded to rally for a thrilling 5-4 non-conference victory over Washington College at the Schottland Tennis Center.
Down to the final two matches, first-year
Sebastian Wroe and junior
Philip Szkudlarski came up clutch, winning in straight and three sets, respectively, with the latter fighting off match point to win 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 at sixth singles. The win improved Stevens' record on the season to 2-3 while the Shoremen slipped to 2-1.
"Today was a very special day for our program" commented head coach
Steve Gachko. "Our entire team contributed to this come-from-behind win. We had to dig deep and find a way to get five points after pulling our top guy,
Keegan Morris, from singles due to injury. Our depth played a huge role pulling out big wins at 5 and 6 singles after being down 4-3. I'm especially proud of
Philip Szkudlarski who stepped up big-time to fight off a match point down when the match was on the line and grind out the clinching point in the third set."
Stevens carved out a slim 2-1 edge through doubles play. After graduate student
Keegan Morris and first-year
Olof Persson dropped an 8-2 decision to Karl Hoegstedt and Andrew Smith in first doubles, the Ducks responded with two key back-to-back wins. Senior
Marc Feliu and first-year
Troy Zhang were victorious 8-5 over Koby Bonta and Landon Strober to even the match at 1-1. The Ducks then claimed the final doubles flight with an 8-4 win by Wroe and sophomore
Aashi Kulakarni.
Number one and two singles went in the Shoremen's favor as Hoegstedt defeated Feliu 6-2, 6-2 and Strober defeated Kulakami 6-0, 6-3 to reclaim a 3-2 overall lead for the home team.
In third flight singles action, first-year
Vivek Harinarayan picked up a critical straight-set win over Bonta 6-3, 6-1, tying the match at three. Things got a bit more difficult for Stevens as first-year
Matt Luzzi battled tough but lost a 7-6, 6-3 affair at fourth singles to Ryohei Kawai to put the Shoremen back in front, setting the stage for the heroics in the final two matches of the day, which were completed indoors.
"Our entire team grew closer today and I'm excited for what's to come with this special group of guys," Gachko expressed.
Up Next: Men's Tennis next returns to the courts on Mar. 26 to face Swarthmore College. The two have faced each other six times dating back to 2012 with the Garnet holding a 4-2 edge. Most recently, the Ducks suffered a tight 5-4 loss back in 2017.
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