Binghamton's Jain, Stony Brook's Lagvilava Capture America East Weekly Tennis Accolades - AmericaEast.com

Binghamton's Jain, Stony Brook's Lagvilava Capture America East Weekly Tennis Accolades - AmericaEast.com

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Binghamton University junior Arnav Jain (Mumbai, India/J.M.L School), who remains undefeated in singles this spring, led the Bearcats to their 11th straight win to earn the male Tennis Player of the Week honor while Stony Brook University freshman Nini Lagvilava (Tbilisi, Georgia/Number 29) led the Seawolves to victory over conference foe UMBC to claim the female Tennis Player of the Week award for the week ending March 30.

Jain led the Bearcats, who are 16-1 on the season, to wins over, Yale, 4-3, Penn, 5-2, and No. 64 Harvard, 4-3. He posted a straight-set win at No. 4 singles over Penn and then battled back from a set down to capture a victory over Yale. On Tuesday against the Crimson, Jain claimed the deciding point for the Bearcats, rallying back for a three-set win at the No. 4 singles spot. With the three wins, Jain is 16-0 at No. 4 singles this spring and 26-3 overall.

Lagvilava led the Seawolves to three wins over Marist, 9-0, Lehigh, 7-0, and UMBC, 5-1, to capture the first weekly honor of her career. Lagvilava led a Stony Brook sweep of Marist, claiming a straight-set win at No. 1 singles. She then dropped only one game in another straight-set win at the No. 1 spot over Lehigh on Monday. On Tuesday, she posted her third singles victory of the week, defeating UMBC’s Alice Chen (North Potomac, Md./Quince Orchard) at the No. 1 position.

In this week’s ITA national rankings, the Binghamton men’s squad has climbed to 59th after ranking 74th on March 23 while Bearcat junior Anna Edelman (Great Neck, N.Y./Great NeckNorth), who plays No. 2 singles for the women’s squad, has claimed a national singles ranking of 108th.

Albany – The Great Danes played conference rival UMBC over the weekend, falling, 7-0, to the Retrievers. UMBC swept the doubles point and took that momentum into singles, winning all six matches. Freshman Sarah Iannone (North Vancouver, British Columbia/Seycove Secondary School) battled UMBC’s Couto to a third set, but couldn’t hold on for the win, dropping the 10-point tiebreaker, 11-9. The Great Danes next head to Florida where they will first play Jacksonville.

Binghamton – The No. 59 Bearcat men posted wins over Penn, 4-3, and Yale, 5-2, last week. Against Penn, the Bearcats won the doubles point with victories at the No. 1 and 3 spots. In singles, Binghamton quickly captured a second point, winning the No. 4 singles spot, before Penn posted a win of its own at the No. 1 spot. The Bearcats clinched the match when sophomore Gilbert Wong (Hong Kong/Diocesan Boys School) and senior Moshe Levy (Ra’ananna, Israel/De-Cart) each rallied back from a set down to claim third-set victories at No. 2 and 3 singles. Binghamton then defeated Yale on Sunday, winning the doubles point to start the match. In singles action, the Bearcats only dropped two matches and junior Sven Vloedgraven (Lochem, Netherlands/Isendoorn College) rebounded from a loss against Penn with a straight set victory at No. 1 singles. Then on Tuesday, the Bearcat men captured their 11th straight win, pulling out a close 4-3 victory over No. 64 Harvard. Binghamton got off to a slow start, allowing the Crimson to sweep doubles and claim the first singles victory. But the Bearcats rebounded, tying the match up at 3-3 with wins at No. 1, 2 and 3 singles. Arnav Jain claimed the deciding point for Binghamton, rallying back from a set down to claim a three-set victory at No. 4 singles. The Bearcats next play Buffalo and No. 74 Western Michigan on April 4. The Binghamton women posted a close 4-3 victory over Richmond on Tuesday. The Bearcats got off to a fast start, winning the No. 1 and 2 doubles spot to claim the point. Junior Lauren Bates (Buffalo, N.Y./Kenmore West) earned a second point for Binghamton, winning the first singles match of the day at the top spot. Sophomore Marina Bykovskaya (Saratov, Russia/Secondary School 8) claimed a third point for the squad, but the Spiders rallied back with three singles victories to tie the match at 3-3. Junior Yulia Smirnova (Moscow, Russia./Secondary School 1574) claimed the deciding point for the Bearcats with a three-set victory at No. 4 singles. The squad’s match against Fairleigh Dickinson was cancelled on Friday due to bad weather. No make-up date has been scheduled. Binghamton next travels to UNC-Wilmington on April 2.

Boston U. – The Terrier women suffered two losses at the hands of ranked opponents over the weekend, falling 6-1 to No. 56 William & Mary and No. 24 Virginia Commonwealth University. Against William & Mary on Saturday, Boston U. dropped the doubles point after sophomore Monika Mical (Stalowa Wola, Poland/Penn State) and senior captain Francine Whu (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Technical) fell in a tiebreaker at the No. 2 doubles spot. Freshman Vivien Laszloffy (Budapest, Hungary/Thomas Mann Gymnasium) then captured the squad’s sole point of the match, winning at No.3 singles in a second-set tiebreaker. On Sunday, VCU swept the Terriers in doubles before claiming five of the six singles matches. Sophomore Stefanie Nunic (New York, N.Y./Broward Virtual Education) posted the only win for the squad at the No. 1 spot. The Terriers have the week off and will return to action on April 10 against UMass. The Boston U. men split a pair of matches over the weekend, falling to UConn, 6-1, before blanking Hofstra, 7-0. The Terriers claimed the No. 3 doubles match against UConn, but couldn’t pull out the doubles point, falling at the No. 1 and 2 spots. In singles action, sophomore Alex Green (Nashua, N.H./The Derryfield School) captured the squad’s lone point with a straight-set victory at No. 6 singles. In their final home match of the season, the men swept Hofstra. Boston U. captured the doubles point with victories at the No. 1 and 3 spots. The squad then swept all six singles matches without dropping a set. The Terriers next travel to Quinnipiac on April 10.

Hartford – The Hawk men remained winless this season with a 7-0 loss to Sacred Heart on March 27. The squad will seek its first win when it plays host to Wagner on April 2. The Hartford women dropped a pair of matches, falling 7-0 to Fairfield on Wednesday and Sacred Heart on Saturday. The women will also seek their first dual match victory when they host Wagner on Friday, April 2.

UMBC – In their only match of the week, the UMBC men fought off a tough George Mason squad, defeating the Patriots, 6-1, on USTA Kids’ Day at the UMBC Tennis Complex on Sunday, March 28. The Retrievers won for the eighth time in nine matches and tied their season-long match winning streak at four straight. UMBC is now 13-3 on the campaign. The men captured the doubles point and took five of six singles matches. Both Retriever French freshmen, Adam Duprat (Bobigny, France) and Gaulthier Berret (Lagny Sur Marne, France), did not drop a game en route to victories at No. 3 and 4 singles, respectively. Duprat is on a 13-match winning streak and holds a record of 13-1 singles, which is the best winning percentage on the team, and is 4-1 in doubles with Berret. After Tuesday’s loss to Stony Brook, UMBC continues its homestand by entertaining Coppin State on Saturday. The UMBC women swept St. Joseph’s, 7-0, at the UMBC Tennis Complex on March 24. The hosts took the doubles point, as the No. 2 and 3 duos recorded 8-0 shutouts. Senior Alice Chen (North Potomac, Md./Quince Orchard) was tested, but prevailed over Kadzieski, 7-6, 6-3 at the No. 1 singles position as the Retrievers swept the singles matches. The squad then won for the second time in three attempts against America East competition, as the Retrievers blanked Albany, 7-0, on Sunday. UMBC has now won six consecutive matches and is 10-4 on the campaign. The Retrievers earlier split a pair of matches with Hartford and Boston University, blanking the Hawks, 7-0, and dropping a 5-2 decision to the Terriers. The Retrievers swept all three matches to capture the doubles point. Junior Emily Mannix (Hillsborough, N.J.) and sophomore Carmen Jackman (Silver Spring, Md./Blake) only dropped one game apiece en route to 6-1, 6-0 victories at No. 4 and 2 singles, respectively. Freshman Lorena Valente (Florianapolis, Brazil) won the match-clincher, defeating Susan Ma, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 3 singles. After suffering a loss to Stony Brook on Tuesday, the squad next entertains Towson on April 2. 

Stony Brook – The Seawolf women cruised to a 9-0 win over Marist in their first home match of the spring season. Stony Brook won the doubles point, dropping only six games in all four matches played. In singles action, the squad didn’t drop a set as it swept all eight matches played. Both Seawolf squads then took on Lehigh on Monday. The women blanked the Mountain Hawks, 7-0, while the men won, 6-1. The Seawolf women swept the doubles point and cruised through singles, dropping only 10 games. The men dropped the doubles point against Lehigh, but rebounded with a sweep of singles. Senior Ilan Schvarz (Haifa, Israel/Ironi Tet) completed the sweep for Stony Brook, pulling out a three-set victory at No. 6 singles. After defeating UMBC on Tuesday, both Stony Brook teams will face Georgetown today (March 31).