Vloedgraven and Mehter Earn Weekly Honors - AmericaEast.com
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – After solid weekends in both singles and doubles action, a pair of America East student athletes earned Player of the Week honors. Binghamton University senior and two-time America East Player of the Year Sven Vloedgraven (Lochem, Netherlands/Isendoorn College) earned the men’s Player of the Week nod while Stony Brook University sophomore Aylin Mehter (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) received women’s Player of the Week honors.
Vloedgraven stretched his win streak in singles matches to five, leading the Bearcats to the championship match of the 10-team ECAC Indoor Championship. The senior remained the top player in the Northeast with a three-set win over the region’s No. 2, Matija Pecotic of Princeton, in the semifinals. Vloedgraven then handled Cornell’s Jon Jaklitsch in straight sets in the title match. Ranked No. 81 in the country, Vloedgraven is 16-7 overall, 5-2 in duals. Already the school’s all-time wins leader, he is closing in on the century mark (96) and has a career singles win percentage of .744. Vloedgraven also earned a key doubles win vs. Princeton that proved pivotal in Binghamton’s 4-3 win over the second-seeded Tigers.
Mehter accounted for two of the Seawolves’ four points against Penn. The sophomore teamed with senior Gayatri Krishnan (Chennai, India/National Inst. of Open Schooling) to win, 8-6, at No. 3 doubles before winning, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 3 singles. She also went 2-0 in the 6-1 win over St. Joseph’s. She again teamed with Krishnan for a win at No. 3 doubles and then won, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 3 singles.
The University at Albany women fell to Rhode Island, 5-2, in the Great Danes’ only match of the week. Senior Susan Ma (Parkville, Mo./Park Hills South) and junior Aubrey Brooks (Guilford, Conn./Guilford) teamed up for an 8-5 win at No. 1 doubles. Brooks was also victorious at No. 4 singles with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over the Rams’ Kirsten Leikem. Senior Laine Mackey (Leawood, Kansas/Shawnee Mission) recorded the Great Danes’ second point with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Christen Cadigan at No. 2 singles. The Great Danes will return to action on Wednesday at Colgate before hosting Marist and crosstown-rival Siena over the weekend.
The Binghamton University men (2-5), ranked No. 68 in the nation by the ITA, won two of three matches during the week to reach the final of the ECAC Indoor Championship. Invited to the event for the first time in school history, the Bearcats carried the No. 3 seed and eliminated sixth-seeded Yale and second-seeded Princeton by identical 4-3 scores before being edged by top-seeded Cornell, 4-3, in the championship match. The ECAC event is a dual match format featuring the top 10 teams in the Northeast. Reigning America East and Northeast Coach of the Year Adam Cohen has juggled his lineup with senior standouts and top-two players Sven Vloedgraven (Lochem, Netherlands/Isendoorn College) and Arnav Jain (Mumbai, India/J.M.L. School) remaining as the only players to hold steady at their positions in the singles lineup. Jain has won six matches in a row, highlighted by a straight-set win over 92nd-ranked Andy Gauthier of Cornell. It was the second win this year for Jain over Cornell’s top player. Vloedgraven ran his win streak to five with three wins at the ECAC Championship, including a three-set battle against the region’s No. 2 player, Matija Pecotic of Princeton. Vloedgraven also beat Pecotic in the championship match of the fall ITA Regional. The Bearcats continue their Ivy League run with a road match at Columbia, as well as a match at St. John’s, this weekend. The Lions were the only team to beat Binghamton during the regular season last year. The Bearcats are still looking for their first win against the reigning Ivy League champions (0-6 head-to-head), who are ranked No. 45 in the country. The Binghamton women (2-3) dropped their only dual match of the week, a 4-3 decision to host Temple University. Senior Anna Edelman (Great Neck, N.Y./Great Neck North) posted a pair of wins to pace the Bearcats. Edelman garnered a victory at first singles to improve to 21-5 in singles competition this year. Juniors Jillian Santos (Flushing, N.Y./Cardozo) and Emma Leibowicz (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) were winners at second and fifth singles, respectively.
The Boston University women (5-2), currently ranked 67th in the nation, earned their fifth-straight victory with a 6-1 decision over Syracuse on Sunday at the Track and Tennis Center. The Terriers snapped the Orange’s six-match win streak by capturing two of the three doubles matches and five of the six singles contests. Junior Stefanie Nunic (New York, N.Y./Broward Virtual Education) and sophomore Vivien Laszloffy (Budapest, Hungary/Thomas Mann Gymnasium) lost a combined seven games in the No. 1 and No. 2 singles matches, respectively. Boston U. will next face 75th-ranked William & Mary at Harvard on Friday, February 25 with action set to begin at 12 p.m. The women also face Akron on Sunday. The men (4-3) earned their second consecutive win at home with a 4-3 victory over Bryant. The Terriers swept through doubles for the first point and won three singles matches to avenge a 5-2 loss last fall to the Bulldogs. Sophomore Ferdinand Brunet (London, England/Stony Brook) captured the clinching point with a 6-1, 6-4 win at the No. 6 spot. Boston U. will next play at Dartmouth on Saturday, March 5.
University of Hartford begins its spring tennis schedule this week when the Hawks host Fairfield on February 25.
The UMBC women’s tennis team split a pair of matches this weekend, blanking Radford, 7-0, on Saturday, February 19, before falling, 0-7, at Virginia Tech on Sunday, February 20. Both matches took place at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center. The Retrievers are now 5-4 on the campaign. Against the Highlanders, UMBC won all three doubles matches before sweeping the singles. Sophomore Heidi Danielsson (Jonkoping, Sweden) posted a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Sara Tegner at No. 4 singles as four Retrievers won in straight sets. Freshman Kim Berghaus (Offenbach, Germany/Leibniz Gymnasium) and freshman Josefin Stange-Jonsson (Vateras, Sweden/De La Gardiegymnasiet) rallied from first-set losses to capture their matches. Berghaus posted a 2-6, 6-0, 6-1 victory over Radford’s Mia Drobnjak at No. 2 singles, while Stange-Jonsson won a tight, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, decision against Emerald Lauzon at No. 6 singles. Virginia Tech, which defeated No. 57 Maryland a day earlier, fought off some tough challenges from the Retrievers to prevail in the morning match. UMBC sophomore Julia Gregara-Cano (Badajoz, Spain/Fresno State) came the closest to winning a set, but dropped a 7-6, 6-1 decision to Tea Ivanovic at No. 3 singles. The ladies return to action on Saturday, February 26 when they take on St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia. The UMBC men’s tennis team had its three-match winning streak snapped by national power VCU (9-3), 7-0, in a morning match. UMBC fell to 5-2 on the campaign. The Rams won all three doubles matches, but UMBC did not go down easily in singles play. Retriever No. 1 junior Cristian Hodel (Calarasi, Romania/Boise State) challenged Tim Johanssen, ranked 113 in the nation, but dropped a tough, 7-5, 7-5, match. No. 3 junior Rasid Winklaar (Willemstad, Curacao/Abraham Baldwin College) and No. 6 senior Mwali Phiri (Yonkers, N.Y./Tuckahoe/Tyler J.C.) each dropped tie-breakers in straight set losses. No. 4 sophomore Adam Duprat (Bobigny, France) captured the first set in his match, but fell, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4, to Antoine Baroz, while No. 5 sophomore Gaulthier Berret (Lagny Sur Marne, France) won his first set, but also dropped the decision, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, to Alejandro Argente. Junior Joe Adewumi (Phoenix, Ariz./North Canyon) lost his singles match, but is still 14-3 to date in singles this academic year and 45-26 overall in his career. UMBC returns to action next weekend with two matches in Philadelphia as the Retrievers take on Penn on Saturday and face St. Joseph’s on Sunday.
The Stony Brook University women’s team won matches at St. Joseph’s and Penn over the weekend. The 4-3 win over Penn was the Seawolves’ first-ever win over a team from the Ivy League. Sophomore Aylin Mehter (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) and senior Gayatri Krishnan (Chennai, India/National Inst. of Open Schooling) combined to win, 8-6, at No. 3 doubles. Each then won in singles play in straight sets. The women coasted to a 6-1 victory against St. Joseph’s, winning all three doubles matches and five of the six singles matches. The Seawolves did not drop a set in their five singles victories. Junior Katherine Hanson (Smithtown, N.Y./Hauppauge) and Krishnan did not lose a game in their wins at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, while sophomore Nini Lagvilava (Tbilisi, Georgia/Number 29) won, 6-3, 6-0, at No. 2. The women next travel to Brown on February 27. The men’s team defeated St. Joseph’s, 7-0, on Friday, before falling by the same score to Penn on Saturday. Stony Brook won four of the six singles matches in straight sets against the Hawks. Freshman Nikita Fomin (Moscow, Russia/Bradenton) won, 6-2, 1-6, 10-6, at No. 1 singles and also combined with sophomore Roope Kailaheimo (Helsinki, Finland/Mäkelänrinteen Lukio) to win, 8-5, at No. 1 doubles. Next up for the men is a trip to Yale for a tournament February 26-27.