NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The top seeds all advanced to the finals of the 2009 America East Tennis Championship as Binghamton University and Stony Brook University each won semifinal matches on the men's side Saturday at Yale University's Tennis Center. On the women's side, the Bearcats and Boston University will meet in the title match for the second straight year. Both championships will be played tomorrow at 11 a.m. and the champions will receive automatic bids to the NCAA Tennis Championship.
In men's action, top-seeded Stony Brook knocked off fourth-seeded Boston University 4-0 to return to the finals for the seventh time since first making its first tournament appearance in 2002. Youssef Fassi-Fehri and Mitch Wong won singles matches at the fourth and sixth spots, respectively, after teaming up for an 8-4 win at third doubles. The defending champion Bearcats, the No. 2 seed, got singles wins from Sven Vloedgraven, Arnav Jain and Rafael Rodrigues to oust No. 3 UMBC and keep alive its pursuit of their fifth championship in seven years.
On the women's side, the top-ranked Terriers downed fourth-seeded UMBC 4-0 by taking the doubles point and getting singles wins at the one, three and four positions from Stefanie Nunic, Petra Santini and Cori Leftkowith. In the other semi, No. 2 Binghamton upended No. 3 Stony Brook 4-1 on the strength of their top two players, Lauren Bates and Jillian Santos, who combined for two wins apiece. The Terriers, who have won 15 straight America East titles, will face the Bearcats in the title match for the fourth time in five years.
The America East Tennis Championship utilizes a format of three doubles matches
and six singles matches. Doubles matches are played first using eight-game pro
sets with a 12-point tie-break at eight games all. The team winning two or more
of the doubles matches receives one point in the team scoring. The doubles
matches are followed by the singles matches using a best two-of-three sets
format. Each singles match is worth one point. A minimum of four points is
required to win the team match.
America East Women’s Tennis Championship
April 24-26, Yale Tennis Center-- New Haven, Conn.
Friday, April 24
Match 1 -- Opening Round: #4 UMBC 4, #5 Albany 0 | RESULTS
Match 2 -- Opening Round: #3 Stony Brook 4, #6 Hartford 0 | RESULTS
Saturday, April 25
Match 3 -- Consolation: Albany 4, vs. Hartford 0 |RESULTS
Match 4 -- Semifinals: #1 Boston U. 4, UMBC 0 |RESULTSMatch 5 -- Semifinals: #2 Binghamton 4, Stony Brook 1 |RESULTS
Sunday, April 27
Match 6 -- Final: Boston U. vs Stony Brook, 11 a.m.
America East Men’s Tennis Championship
April 24-26, Yale Tennis Center-- New Haven, Conn.
Friday, April 24
Match 1 -- Opening Round: #5 Boston University 4, #5 Hartford 0 | RESULTS
Saturday, April 26
Match 2 -- Semifinals: #2 Binghamton 4, vs. #3 UMBC 0 |RESULTSMatch 3 -- Semifinals:#1 Stony Brook 4, Boston U. 0 |RESULTSMatch 4 -- Consolation: UMBC 4, Boston U. 0 |RESULTS
Sunday, April 27
Match 5 -- Final: Binghamton. vs Stony Brook, 11 a.m.
*Championship match times are subject to change by the games committee if there is a team that has a dual coach.
**In the event of inclement weather, match times will be adjusted as needed.
*** log on www.AmericaEast.com for schedule/venue changes