Sophomores Score Their Second Weekly Tennis Honors of 2010 Season - AmericaEast.com
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Boston University sophomore Stefanie Nunic (New York, N.Y./Broward Virtual Education) remained undefeated in singles and doubles over the week to capture the female Tennis Player of the Week honor while Binghamton University sophomore Gilbert Wong (Hong Kong/Diocesan Boys School) remained perfect in singles to garner the male Tennis Player of the Week award for the week ending March 14.
Nunic remained perfect at the top spot in both singles and doubles to lead the Terriers to three straight wins over their spring break trip, their longest win streak this season. With freshman partner Vivien Laszloffy (Budapest, Hungary/Thomas Mann Gymnasium), Nunic pulled out three doubles wins, including a close 8-7 decision over Buffalo. In singles, she posted two straight set victories over James Madison and Eastern Carolina and pulled out a close three setter against Buffalo. Nunic, who was ranked 19th in the Northeast preseason rankings, moved up to eighth in the rankings released March 4. This is her second weekly honor of the season.
Wong captures his second weekly honor after posting three singles wins and two doubles victories last weekend to lead the Bearcats to an 11-1 season start. Wong claimed a three-set victory against Radford at the No. 4 singles spot to clinch the victory, 4-3, for Binghamton. He then posted straight set wins over Youngstown State and Duquesne to improve to 11-0 in singles on the season. Wong also claimed two doubles victories at the top spot with junior partner Sven Vloedgraven (Lochem, Netherlands/Isendoorn College). The doubles duo is ranked sixth in the latest ITA Northeast rankings.
Albany – Due to bad weather, the Great Danes match against Holy Cross on Saturday was postponed. Albany returns to action on March 20 against Sacred Heart.
Binghamton – The Bearcat men went 3-0 in dual matches this weekend to improve to 11-1 this season. In their first home match of the season, Binghamton pulled out a close 4-3 victory over Radford, the Big South Conference champions. The Bearcats claimed the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and 3 doubles to start the match. Junior Arnav Jain (Mumbai, India/J.M.L School) then posted a decisive win at No. 5 singles for the squad before the Bearcats fell at No. 1, 3 and 6 singles. Down 2-3, senior Moshe Levy (Ra’ananna, Israel/De-Cart) and Gilbert Wong fought to third-set victories at the No. 2 and 4 singles spots, clinching the win for Binghamton. The Bearcats then faced Youngstown State and Duquesne on Sunday, claiming 7-0 wins over both teams. The squad dropped only one set to Duquesne in their two victories on Sunday. Binghamton next travels to James Madison on March 20. The women dropped their second match of the season in a 4-3 loss to Syracuse. The Bearcats dropped the doubles point to start the match with junior Anna Edelman (Great Neck, N.Y./Great NeckNorth) and sophomore partner Marina Bykovskaya (Saratov, Russia/Secondary School 8) claiming the team’s sole doubles win at the No. 1 spot. Edelman, ranked 112th, remained strong in singles, capturing another victory for the team at the No. 2 spot. Junior Lauren Bates (Buffalo, N.Y./Kenmore West) and sophomore Jillian Santos (Flushing, N.Y./Cardozo) also claimed wins at the No. 1 and 4 singles spots, respectively, but the Orange swept the other three singles to clinch the match. The Bearcat women next play on March 21 at Villanova.
Boston U. – The Terrier women concluded their spring break trip with a third straight victory, defeating James Madison, 6-1, on Thursday. The squad started the match with wins at No. 1 and 2 doubles to clinch the point. Stefanie Nunic won at No. 1 doubles with partner Vivien Laszloffy. Nunic then captured a straight set victory at No. 1 singles to remain undefeated at the top spot in both doubles and singles over the trip. Sophomore Monika Mical (Stalowa Wola, Poland/Penn State) and freshman Jessi Linero (Key Biscayne, Fla./Gulliver Prep) also posted singles wins, going undefeated in singles play over the week. Boston U. next travels to Penn on March 20. The Terrier men were edged by South Dakota State, 4-3, on March 9. Boston U. got off to a good start, winning at No. 2 and 3 doubles to start the match. Sophomore Regis Chang (Mattapoisett, Mass./Old Rochester Regional) captured the first singles victory of the day for the Terriers, winning at the No. 6 singles spot. But South Dakota State rebounded, claiming wins at the No. 1, 4 and 5 spots. Down 2-3, freshman Josh Friedman (Los Angeles, Calif./Milken Community) tied it up with a victory at No. 2 singles before the Terriers dropped the deciding point in three sets at the No. 3 spot. The men’s match against Northern Illinois on March 11 was cancelled due to rain. The Terriers return to action on March 19 when they host Holy Cross.
Hartford – The Hawk men’s and women’s teams fell to South Dakota State on Sunday, 7-0, and Colgate on Tuesday, 6-1. Freshman Livia Blasque (Andradina, Brazil/Colegio Stella Maris) captured the women’s only point against Colgate, posting a straight set victory at No. 1 singles while freshman Josh Isaacson (Marietta, Ga./George Walton) claimed the men’s sole victory at the No. 2 singles spot. The Hartford squads are still in search of their first win this season and will face Morehead State today (March 17) in their final spring break match.
UMBC – The Retriever men, ranked ninth in the Atlantic region, improved to 10-3 on the season with a 7-0 win over Howard on March 11 in their first home match. The team’s 10-3 start ties the program’s best Division I start posted in 1991 when UMBC went 10-3 en route to a 14-3 season record. Against Howard, the Retrievers easily captured the doubles point, winning both matches, 8-1. Senior Chris Meyer (New Market, Md./Urbana) dropped his first set to Devard Wharton, at No. 1 singles, but bounced back to a 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 victory. UMBC triumphed in all of the other four singles matches, punctuated by sophomore Joe Adewumi’s (Phoenix, Ariz./North Canyon) 6-1, 6-1 victory over Brandon Burns at No. 5 singles. The team heads to Texas for spring break with a match against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on March 16. After a shaky start, the UMBC women’s team recovered and defeated visiting Howard, 5-2, on March 11, in their first home match of the season. The Retrievers snapped a brief two-match slide and improved to 5-4 on the season. UMBC’s Brazilian duo of senior Barbara Couto (Teresopolis, Brazil) and freshman Lorena Valente (Florianopolos, Brazil) won at No. 3 doubles, 8-4, to improve to a perfect 9-0 in doubles competition this fall. Senior Alice Chen (North Potomac, Md./Quince Orchard), Valente, and junior Emily Mannix (Hillsborough, N.J.) each won in straight sets at the Nos. 2, 3, and 4 singles slots to give UMBC a 3-2 lead. The Retrievers had to work overtime to clinch the match, as No. 5 Heidi Danielsson (Jonkoping, Sweden) and No. 6 Couto posted three-set victories. The team heads to Texas for spring break with a match against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on March 16 and a contest at UT-San Antonio on March 19.
Stony Brook – The Seawolf women suffered their second loss of the season, falling to Cornell, 4-3. Stony Brook got off to a great start, winning the doubles point with victories at the No. 1 and 2 spots. But the squad couldn’t hold onto the lead as the Big Red posted wins at the No. 2, 4 and 6 singles spots. Sophomore Prerana Appineni (Hyderabad, India/Vasavi Public) and freshman Nini Lagrilava (Tbilisi, Georgia/Number 29) brought the Seawolves back into the match with victories at No. 3 and 4 singles, but the team couldn’t hold on for the win, dropping the deciding point at No. 1 singles. On Sunday, the squad rebounded with a win over St. Bonaventure, 6-1. The Seawolves again claimed the doubles point, posting wins at No. 1 and 2 doubles. Carrying the momentum into singles, the team dropped only one point, falling in three-sets at the No. 1 singles spot. Stony Brook next hosts Marist on March 27. The men split a pair of dual matches over the weekend, falling to Cornell, 6-1, before rebounding with a win over St. Bonaventure, 6-1. Against Cornell, senior Jon Epstein (Silver Spring, Md./Hebrew Academy) captured Stony Brook’s lone victory, winning in two tiebreak sets at No. 3 singles. The squad next plays St. John’s on March 27.