Adewumi and Laszloffy Take First Tennis Awards - AmericaEast.com
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – UMBC junior Joe Adewumi (Phoenix, Ariz./North Canyon) and Boston University sophomore Vivien Laszloffy (Budapest, Hungary/Thomas Mann Gymnasium) kicked off the 2011 spring tennis season with impressive efforts to garner America East Performer of the Week accolades.
Adewumi went 2-0 at No. 2 singles and 1-1 at No. 1 doubles vs. St. Francis (Pa.) and Villanova in a pair of Retriever wins this week. The junior did not drop a game in his singles match against St. Francis (Pa.) and earned a 6-4, 6-0 victory at No. 2 singles against Villanova. Adewumi is now 4-1 in singles matches this spring and 3-2 at No. 1 doubles. Adewumi began the season ranked No. 125 nationally for men’s singles players by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
Laszloffy dominated the competition this past weekend. Against Quinnipiac, she dropped just three games total at the No. 2 spot after winning the top doubles match, 8-0. On the following day, she won the No. 1 singles against Rhode Island, 6-1, 6-3, in addition to winning the top doubles match, 8-1.
University at Albany did not compete over the weekend. Albany’s match against Fordham, which was scheduled for February 5, was postponed. The Great Danes open their 2011 schedule Friday, February 11 at St. Joseph’s. They then take on New Jersey Tech on Sunday, February 13.
The Binghamton University women opened their dual-match portion of the spring campaign with a 1-1 record over the weekend, splitting a pair of decisions against Big East opponents Syracuse and Seton hall. On Friday, the Bearcats fell to the Orange, 4-3, at the Drumlins Tennis Center. Senior Lauren Bates (Buffalo, N.Y./Kenmore West) and junior Emma Leibowicz (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) captured the squad’s only doubles victory (8-1), before an even split in the singles matches. Junior Jillian Santos (Flushing, N.Y./Cardozo) posted a comeback victory at second singles, while classmate Marina Bykovskaya (Saratov, Russia/Secondary School 8) and senior Yulia Smirnova (Moscow, Russia./Secondary School 1574) tallied straight-set wins at fifth and fourth singles, respectively. Meanwhile, all six Bearcats registered a pair of wins in a 7-0 sweep over the Pirates on Sunday. Santos collected a 6-2, 6-0 triumph at second singles, while senior Anna Edelman (Great Neck, N.Y./Great Neck North) grabbed a 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) win at first singles. The Binghamton men (0-2), currently No. 59 in the ITA national poll, took its highest national ranking (50th) into the 2011 spring season but dropped a pair of matches at the ITA Kickoff Classic, hosted by top-ranked Virginia January 29-30. The two losses match the number of defeats in all of the Bearcats’ record-breaking 2009-10 season, when they went 25-2. Against East Tennessee State, senior Arnav Jain (Mumbai, India/J.M.L. School) saw his 26-match win streak (duals) end in a straight-set defeat at third singles. He led, 5-4, in the first set before succumbing, 7-5, 6-3. Jain went undefeated in duals last year (24-0) and had not lost since April 17, 2009. He rebounded to post a win over Cornell at No. 3, Binghamton’s lone singles win in the dual. Jain also teamed with junior Alexandre Haggai (St. Denis, Reunion Island/Lycee Bellepierre) for doubles wins vs. ETSU and Cornell. The Bearcat men head to Lincoln to face the 40th-ranked Cornhuskers and Western Michigan on February 11-12. The women also hit the road, travelling to Ithaca, N.Y., to face Cornell February 12 and to Lewisburg, Pa., February 13 for a date with Bucknell.
Boston University continued its spring schedule with the women winning with matching 7-0 results against Quinnipiac and Rhode Island. The Terrier men split over the weekend, topping Quinnipiac, 7-0, and falling to No. 64 Harvard, 7-0. For the women, sophomore Vivien Laszloffy (Budapest, Hungary/Thomas Mann Gymnasium) dominated the weekend. Laszloffy won from the second singles position, 6-3, 6-0, against Quinnipiac before winning a 6-1, 6-3 decision from first singles against Rhode Island. The sophomore also teamed up with junior Stefanie Nunic (New York, N.Y./Broward Virtual Education) for a pair of No. 1 doubles wins. Nunic also took home a 6-0, 6-0 win playing No. 1 singles against Quinnipiac. For the men, sophomore Josh Friedman (Los Angeles, Calif./Milken Community) grabbed a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 1 singles against Quinnipiac. The Terrier women are back in action February 9 when they host No. 61 Dartmouth before taking on Davidson on February 13. The men return to the court February 13 against Sacred Heart.
University of Hartford has not yet opened its 2011 schedule. The Hawks open the season February 25 when it hosts in-state rival Fairfield.
The UMBC men improved to 4-1 on the season with two wins, beating St. Francis (Pa.) and Villanova at Twin Lakes Racquet Club in Baltimore. Junior Joe Adewumi (Phoenix, Ariz./North Canyon) has earned an ITA ranking of 125 and is off to a 4-1 start at No. 2 singles and 3-2 at No. 2 doubles this spring. He did not drop a game in a 6-0, 6-0 win over Nate Fleming of the Red Flash. UMBC won eight of nine matches in the 6-1 win over the Big East’s Wildcats. The Retriever women’s team played just one match, blanking St. Francis (Pa.), 7-0. Freshman Kim Berghaus (Offenbach, Germany/Liebnizgymnasium) did not drop a game at No. 1 singles or No. 2 doubles in the victory. She is 3-1 in both singles and doubles in her initial spring season. Berghaus combined with senior Emily Mannix (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) to post an 8-0 rout of their Red Flash foes. Mannix won a 6-1, 6-0 decision at No. 2 singles. The Retriever teams both take on Old Dominion in Norfolk, Va., on Saturday and the women continue on to face VCU in Richmond, Va., on Sunday.
Stony Brook University’s men’s and women’s tennis teams opened their 2011 spring season over the weekend against Fairfield. The women opened with a 4-2 win over the Stags on Friday while the men lost, 4-3, in a marathon six-hour match against Fairfield. The women then closed the weekend with a 5-2 loss at Columbia. For the women, Fairfield won at No. 1 and No. 2 singles positions but the Seawolves won at the No. 3-6 spots to earn the win. Junior Katherine Hanson (Smithtown, N.Y./Hauppauge) led the women as she won in straight sets at No. 3 singles against both Fairfield and Columbia. For the men against Fairfield, the Stags won at No. 1 doubles but freshmen Ryan Schmitz (Schenectady, N.Y./Scotia-Glenville Senior) and Francesco Arciuli (Lesmo, Italy/Liceo Linguistico Voltairt) won a 9-8 decision at No. 3. Schmitz also earned a win, 6-1, 6-0, out of the No. 5 singles spot. The match came down to No. 2 doubles in which sophomore Roope Kailaheimo (Helsinki, Finland/Mäkelänrinteen Lukio) and junior Max Sztabholz (Paris, France/Jean Viler/Lindenwood) battled but were defeated 9-8 (4) as Fairfield took the 4-3 victory. The Seawolves head to West Point, N.Y., February 11-12 for matches against Army and Connecticut.