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(11/09/05 5:00pm)
The men's and women's cross country teams had a strong showing at this past weekend's Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships. The men's team finished in third place out of 38 teams and the women's team finished in seventh place overall out of 29.
"The ones who ran in the ECACs are the runners that didn't place into Regionals," head coach Phil Jennings said. "This is a good opportunity for them to finish the season in a championship environment and all competed very well."
In front for the men's team was sophomore Steve Kinney who placed ninth with a time of 26:15. Following behind Kinney was freshman Greg Bull who placed 19th with a time of 26:23. Next to finish for the Lions was senior Dan McDonald who took 23rd coming in at 26:27.
"Kinney ran really well and he also ran quite a bit faster on the same course since earlier this year and Bull really stepped it up in this meet as well," Jennings said.
Not too far behind was junior Marc Altenau who crossed the finish line at 26:54 to take 43rd place. Finishing in 55th place was sophomore Craig Beall who finished in 27:04, while freshman Pat DiGioacchino placed 63rd in 27:11.
Rounding out the Lions' runners was freshman Ryan McMahon, who took home 100th place in 27:52.
For the women's team, sophomore Erin Enderly set the pace coming in at 23:07 to take 13th place. Junior Jenna Prendergast followed close behind to take 21st place with a time of 23:06, while freshman Michelle Barbarasch placed 49th with a time of 24:10.
Next in line was freshman Stephanie Herrick, who crossed the finish line at 24:37 to pick up 63rd place. Crossing at 25:15 to take 89th place was sophomore Jenna Bauberger, while freshman Justine Carnevale held up the end of the race for the Lions with a time of 25:23.
The Lions will travel to Rochester, N.Y. next to take part in the NCAA Atlantic Regionals on Nov. 12.
(11/02/05 5:00pm)
The men's and women's cross country teams blew away all competition as they swept the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championships.The men's team collected its 12th consecutive conference title, and the women's team tallied its 11th straight.
In the latest Division III poll, the women's team is ranked No. 12 and the men are ranked No. 13.
Junior Kristen Pogorzelski captured the women's title in 22:47.10 to be named NJAC Female Runner of the Year. The men's title was awarded to senior Matt Randal, who took the win in 25:16.00 to be named the NJAC Male Runner of the Year. Also, rookie head coach Phil Jennings was named NJAC Male Coach of the Year.
Randal said, "I knew someone from the College would probably win the race, and it just so happened that it was me to cross the line first. All I cared about was that someone from the College finished first and kept the streak going of the individual champion being from the College."
In a field of 64 runners in the women's race, the Lions had 11 of the 12 top finishers and scored 15 points in the meet. Behind Pogorzelski, senior Jenna Fasulo followed at 22:47.80 to get second place. In third, senior Kara Horner finished in 22:57.50.
Freshman Martine McGrath secured her fourth place finish coming in at 23:05.30. Breaking into the top five was freshman Megan O'Leary in 23:05.80.
Coming in sixth place for the College was junior Allison Krayl in 23:06.60, followed by sophomore Erin Enderly in seventh at 23:31.00. In eighth place was senior Sarah Spilman with a time of 23:44.20, and in ninth place came freshman Michelle Barbarasch at 23:59.10.
"Both teams were very solid," Jennings said. "Overall, the times were faster than last year on the same course. We just took it from the gun, took off with it, and we did exactly what we needed to do."
In the men's race, the Lions placed 12 runners in the top 19 of a 66-man field. The men had seven of their runners finish under 26:00 which, according to Randal, is quite an accomplishment.
Senior Jeff Zodda came in second behind Randal at 25:25.30.
Sophomore Brian Kopnicki picked up the third place finish at 25:28.30.
Coming in fifth was freshman Christopher Guerriero at 25:30.50 followed by junior Dave dos Santos in 25:32.70 to take sixth place.
Sophomore Kyle Alpaugh picked up the seventh spot coming in at 25:33.00.
At ninth place was sophomore Galen Johnson at 25:57.70 with junior Greg Howe close behind to pick up tenth place at 26:05.10.
"I feel we did extremely well (in the race)," Randal said. "We had a plan to go out a little harder in the first mile than we are accustomed to in order to get ready for a fast start at regionals and hopefully Nationals. I think we executed the plan very well and as a result we, as a team, ran very fast."
Next on the Lions' schedule will be the East Coast Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Championships in Connecticut Nov. 5.
(10/19/05 4:00pm)
Over the weekend, sophomore Christina Contrafatto participated in the 2005 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Nationals. In the eight-player tournament Contrafatto placed seventh, making her No. 7 in the country in Division III for the fall season.
Contrafatto defeated Jamie Gaard of Gustavus Adolphus College 6-2, 7-6 in her third round of play to take the seventh, spot in the tournament.
"I didn't play so well in the first two rounds but I am happy that I could bring home a win," Contrafatto said.
"We were happy she was able to win regionals and get the experience in nationals," head coach Scott Dicheck said. "As the tournament progressed, she got more comfortable and was able to get a nice win over the talented player from Gustavus."
The ITA All-American started off the tournament against Serena Bukard of Emory University and fell 6-0, 6-1. Bukard went on to capture the No. 2 spot in the tournament and country.
In the second round, Washington and Lee University's Emily Applegate took the match from Contrafatto with a 6-3, 6-0 score. Applegate went on to place sixth in the tournament.
"Christina is talented enough to win this tournament, but as you get to this level, there are a lot of good players so you just try working toward the spring," Dicheck said. "She will see good competition in the No. 1 spot and we are just looking for the team to get better and feed off of her success so we can get to nationals as well."
Contrafatto ended the fall season with a 15-2 singles record. She went undefeated in the regular season and was also crowned the 2005 ITA Northeast Singles Champion to get into the ITA Nationals Tournament.
"It is always iffy how you will do in the tournament because there are so many good girls out there," Contrafatto said. "(Gaard) was really good, but she just ran out of gas. So many great freshmen come in each year and take out all the singles players so it is hard to say who will win it each year."
As a 2004 NJAC Women's Tennis Player and Rookie of the Year and now as an All-American, Contrafatto is excited to see what she can offer for the next two-and-a-half years left on her collegiate career.
"I expect to get better and to be more confident when I play," Contrafatto said. "The confidence I got from this will help me win the matches I know I should win."
The 2005 NJAC All-Conference Team will be announced on Nov. 7, which should include Contrafatto and a number of Lions. Play will resume again in February as the Lions hope to dominate another season of tennis.
(10/12/05 4:00pm)
The women's soccer team defeated No. 14 Johns Hopkins University last Monday by a 1-0 margin. The win helped the Lions remain in the No. 3 position in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division III Rankings.
With the win, the Lions now stand at 10-0 on the season and 5-0 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC).
The lone goal of the game was netted by senior forward Brittny Boyd 16:56 into the second half, her sixth of the season. The assist came from freshman forward Allie Schilling off a breakaway shot.
"We had trouble scoring in the first half and shooting the ball at the net, but we took over in the second half," Schilling said.
Senior goalie Alissa Kacar made six saves in the game to collect her seventh shutout of the season. Last week, Kacar was named NJAC defensive player of the week and Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) goaltender of the week.
The Lions were called offsides six times in the game, which may have been a reason for the lack of scoring. Even so, the Lions managed to outplay the Blue Jays and to give a loss to yet another undefeated team. Johns Hopkins now stands at 11-1-1.
"Coach (Joe Russo) is always confident and lets us know our competition, but he always believes we are better and that we will win," Schilling said. "He tells us that we are the team on everyone's schedule that is the most important."
The Lions' goal for the season is to capture the NCAA Division III Championship. With forces such as Boyd and strong rookies like Schilling, this could be a banner year for the team.
And the team says it should capture the NJAC Championship easily if it continues at the pace it has been going.
"I see us staying undefeated, making it to the NCAA Final Four, and eventually winning the championship," Schilling said. "We have a young team, but we work well together and we work harder than any other team out there."
Next on the Lions' schedule is a three-game homestand. The Scarlet Raiders of Rutgers University-Newark will meet the Lions tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Lions' Stadium. Tomorrow, the Lions will face the Griffins of Gwynedd-Mercy College at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday they will host the Gothic Knights of New Jersey City University at 1 p.m.
(10/05/05 4:00pm)
The women's tennis team captured the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) title for the twenty-third consecutive season after defeating Kean University last Friday.
Finishing 5-0 for the season, the Lions dominated each team with a 9-0 score in all five matches. The win also tallies consecutive NJAC win No. 111 for the Lions.
The streak has been alive since Lions tennis was introduced into the conference in 1982. Over the course of 24 years, three coaches, and 26 All-Americans, the Lions have managed to stay on top and dominate the NJAC.
"This is the second straight year that we have won all of the matches 9-0 and we haven't dropped a single set either," head coach Scott Dicheck said. "We have managed to continue the streak by recruiting the right type of player making us able to be the strongest team in the NJAC."
Not only did the Lions beat Kean 9-0, but they also only gave up five individual games in both singles and doubles play.
Sophomore Christina Contrafatto, who was also named NJAC player of the week to add on to her recent naming of All-American, crushed sophomore Angela Hamilton of Kean 6-0, 6-0 in first singles.
Freshman Haley Kutner continued the annihilation at second singles, defeating junior Andrea Vago 6-0, 6-0. Kutner, who was also named NJAC rookie of the week earlier in the season, has managed to have a perfect regular season, going 9-0 in the conference and 5-0 in the Lions' Kickoff Tournament.
"I have been working towards being a collegiate tennis player for a long time and it is really rewarding to see how the hard work paid off," Kutner said. "It is a great feeling to know that you were a big part in helping to win the conference and being able to do so as a freshman is something I am really proud of."
In third singles, senior captain Jackie Gavornik held sophomore Danielle Fardin of Kean to a 6-1, 6-1 score. Sophomore Ariel Donohue destroyed sophomore Kate Kuchar 6-0, 6-0 at fourth singles. In fifth singles, junior Karen Shih continued the trend, dishing out another 6-0, 6-0 win against senior Amanda Gamez.
Freshman Erica Ollinick finished out the singles ladder with a dominant 6-0, 6-1 win over sophomore Laura Kuchar at sixth singles.
Unfortunately for Kean, the pounding did not end there, as the Lions gave up only two games to the Cougars in doubles play.
Contrafatto and Gavornik paired at first doubles to take down Hamilton and Kate Kuchar in an 8-0 one-sided battle. In second doubles, Kutner and freshman Lindsay Katzel edged past Vago and Fardin by an 8-1 margin. Shih and sophomore Kimberly Lee Lum rounded out the competition at third doubles by demolishing Kate Kuchar and Gamez 8-1.
"All in all, I think we did really well; this is the strongest team that we've had in a long time," Gavornik said. "It's great because we push each other a lot. We have so much talent that I was happy to even make the lineup this year."
On the men's side, several Lions competed in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Northeast Regional Tournament this past weekend.
No. 2 seeded sophomore Mike Klimchak advanced the furthest for the Lions, reaching the quarterfinals of the competition. He went 3-1 for the weekend, getting upset in the opening quarterfinal match to sophomore Mikhail Gurevich of New York University 3-6, 4-6.
Sophomore Eric Ferriere also fell to Gurevich in the third singles match 4-6, 2-6 to end his run at the title. Junior Corey Ball joined Ferriere in the third round of singles as he fell to Vassar College's No. 4 seeded player, junior Erik Skartvedt 6-2, 1-6, 3-6.
"All the players had a good performance in the tournament, however we were all pretty disappointed that no one advanced all the way through," Dicheck said. "It is a difficult tournament, but we still expected that someone would do it, especially since the team played pretty well."
All five of the Lions' entries won their first singles round. Freshman Roger Mosteller and senior Justin Cook both fell in the second set to their respective opponents.
"We were all pretty disappointed because the whole team could have had a better showing," Klimchak said. "We had pretty tough draws and I don't think we showed what we are capable of doing. As for me, based on seeding, I should have went to the finals; I was playing well but (Gurevich) played one of his best matches ever and he deserved to win."
Last on the Lions' fall schedule will be the ITA National Championships where Contrafatto will compete in Fort Myers, Fla. against the other seven regional winners on Oct. 13-16.
(09/28/05 4:00pm)
Sophomore Christina Contrafatto swept all competition at this weekend's Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Northeast Regional Championships, improving her record to 13-0 in singles play this fall.
She was named All-American after beating freshman Chelsea Rauck from William Smith College in an intense match that tested each player's endurance.
Contrafatto surrendered the first set 6-2, then took over the second, defeating Rauck 7-6 after winning the tiebreaker 7-4. Contrafatto then crushed Rauck in the third, 6-1.
"It's a lot of pressure actually, because it wasn't an easy tournament and there are always freshmen coming in and surprising everyone - like the girl I played in the finals," Contrafatto said. "It just says to me I still need to improve on my strengths and weaknesses even though I won."
Contrafatto now advances to the ITA National Championships in Fort Myers, Fla.
"I've got nothing to lose," Contrafatto said. "Win or lose, I still get three matches and no matter what, out of eight girls, I will still be eighth in the country."
"Christina deserves to be an All-American," head coach Scott Dicheck said. "There will be tough competition in the Championships and it could go either way."
Three other Lions participated in the Regional Tournament. Senior captain Jackie Gavornik fell in the opening round of singles play, but advanced to the second round in the doubles tournament with partner Contrafatto.
Junior Kristen Turturiello went 3-1 in the first round of the singles tournament, splitting her two matches on the second day to fall in the tournament.
Freshman Haley Kutner captured her first two matches in the tournament, but lost her third match to drop out of the regionals.
The College also faced Richard Stockton College last Wednesday, which was predicted to be their closest match of the season.
The Lions manhandled the Ospreys 9-0, stretching their streak to 110 straight New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) wins.
In first doubles, Contrafatto and Gavornik defeated junior Kristin Tukel and freshman Christa Phillips 8-5. Junior Ayumi Yamazaki and Kutner beat junior Kelly Chin and junior Caitlin McMahon 8-5 in second doubles. In third doubles, junior Karen Shih and Turturiello trounced senior Dina DiMauro and sophomore Jessica Victor 8-2.
In singles play, Contrafatto overcame Tukel 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in the top of the singles ladder. Turturiello beat Chin 6-0, 6-0 in second singles. In third singles, Yamazaki topped Phillips 6-0, 6-1.
Fourth singles had freshman Lindsay Katzel defeating McMahon 6-4, 6-1. In fifth singles, Gavornik won 6-2, 6-4 over freshman Shelly Sai. Gavornik was also named NJAC women's tennis player-of-the-week.
Sophomore Ariel Donohue finished singles play, cruising by junior Rashida Crawford 6-0, 6-0 in sixth singles.
With one NJAC match remaining in the fall, the Lions have defeated all other competition 9-0 in each contest. All members of the team stand undefeated in NJAC play in both singles and doubles.
"The whole team is having very good results," Dicheck said. "Hopefully the entire team can build off of this and Christina's win for the spring season."
The Lions will face Kean University this Friday. The ITA National Championships will not begin until Oct. 13.
(09/21/05 4:00pm)
The College's women's tennis team continued its streak of consecutive New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) wins this week by beating University of Rutgers-Newark, Ramapo College and William Paterson University.
The streak now stands at 109 straight wins as the Lions demolished each team with shutout victories of 9-0.
Sophomore Christina Contrafatto led the battle at first singles and first doubles, going undefeated in all three matches. Contrafatto remains unbeaten in singles play this year with a 6-0 mark.
Freshman Haley Kutner also went undefeated through all three matches, along with every other member of the team, but also remains unbeaten in her college career. Kutner now stands at 6-0 in singles and 5-0 in doubles.
The Lions' most dominant match took place against William Paterson. The College shut down the entire Pioneers' lineup, holding them to only five games while the Lions tallied 96.
The Lions also shut out the Pioneers in six matches and held them to one game in two matches.
In singles, juniors Kristen Turturiello and Ayumi Yamazaki and senior captain Jackie Gavornik and Kutner won their matches 6-0, 6-0. Yamazaki and Kutner teamed at second doubles, while Turturiello and freshman Lindsay Katzel partnered up in third doubles to hold their opponents to an 8-0 score.
"It was expected that we would get wins on all of those teams, but with pretty weak teams like that it is easy to lose focus and we all seemed to step it up and stay focused the entire time throughout all the matches," Turturiello said. "They are weak teams, but you still have to just think you have to get every point just as if you were playing against a really hard team."
According to Turturiello, the team should have no trouble with the rest of their NJAC schedule, as more 9-0 wins are predicted. Excitement rises amongst the Lions, though, as Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Regionals approach.
"The women are taking care of business because it isn't easy being the favorite in the NJAC," head coach Scott Dicheck said. "They have done what was expected and they are all focused when it comes to match time."
Doubles teams of Contrafatto and Gavornik along with Turturiello and Kutner should both see stellar time in the regionals. Each player should also be in the singles tournament.
Yamazaki also qualified for the tournament, but will not be able to attend due to scheduling conflicts.
The men's team participated in the Swarthmore College Invitational Tournament this past weekend. Like the Lions' Fall Kickoff Tournament, the College went through individual matches over the course of the weekend.
On the first day of the tournament, sophomore Mike Klimchak, and freshmen Will Daly and Matt Hiznay advanced to the singles finals by going 2-0 in their matches that day.
"It was a great experience, especially (going into the tournament) as a freshman and getting the chance to play a serious college match," Daly said. "The team is great. There is a lot of opportunity for the freshmen to get so much better because of how good the upperclassmen are, so it is basically a learning experience for us all this year."
Klimchak and freshman Roger Mosteller won both of their doubles matches on the first day of the tournament, while Daly and senior Justin Cook won one out of the two matches to advance to the doubles finals in their flight.
Unfortunately, each singles player and doubles team surrendered their final match to the opponent.
"I was a little disappointed with the way I played in the singles final," Daly said. "I thought I could have done a bit better, but I was just happy to even play for the team."
"It was a good competitive tournament, and the fact that it came out so even was very encouraging," Dicheck said. "We also see things we need to work on, but we are confident in the group we have and in the motivation of all the individual players."
The women's next NJAC match will take place at Richard Stockton College today. The Lions will then travel to Geneva, N.Y. for the ITA Regionals on Sept. 23-25. The men's team will wait to attend the ITA Regionals until Sept. 30-Oct. 2 in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
(09/14/05 4:00pm)
The Fall Kickoff tournament against New York University (NYU) served as a tune-up for the Lions' men's and women's tennis teams over the weekend. The tournament was exclusively individual competition consisting of three rounds of singles play and two rounds of doubles.
Sophomore Mike Klimchak and freshman Haley Kutner went undefeated in both singles and doubles for the weekend. Sophomore Christina Contrafatto went undefeated through all singles play.
"Overall, I am pleased with the team because they came into this tournament with injuries which gave other people chances to get into the lineup which is a good experience for the freshmen," head coach Scott Dicheck said. "We have a much deeper team now with the strength of the freshmen, and our returning players are even stronger than last spring."
Klimchak had an exciting weekend, going undefeated in the top flight of the tournament. In round one, he faced Mikhail Gurevich who advanced to the quarterfinals in last year's ITA East Regional Championship. Klimchak defeated him 6-1, 6-1 with ease.
In round two, Klimchak beat freshman Calvin Chou 6-4, 4-6, 6-0. Klimchak then disassembled junior Ian Corn, rallying to beat him 1-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Freshman Roger Mosteller played alongside Klimchak in doubles play and overpowered NYU in both rounds, 8-1.
"I'm very happy about the tournament because it gives us a chance to start off on a good note and gives me a lot of confidence to face the tough schools coming up on our schedule," Klimchak said. "I have large shoes to fill (for Ryan Carty), so I'm trying to step it up as much as I can."
Kutner also came up big, making her college debut on the courts this weekend. As the doubles matches were finishing up on the final day, the crowd gathered around Kutner and junior Ayumi Yamazaki who were battling senior Megan Hayes and sophomore Meggie Smith in Flight 'A' doubles.
Down 2-7, Yamazaki and Kutner fought back and dominated the next seven games to edge past the Violets 9-7 and to go 2-0 for the day in doubles. Kutner hit multiple winners in the final sets of the match, putting the ball completely out of reach for the Violets.
"I'm very pleased with Haley and Ayumi because the two of them as a combination are very impressive, especially since they beat the No. 1 doubles team from NYU," Dicheck said. "Their match was probably the highlight of the weekend for the women's team."
In singles play, Kutner dominated Flight 'B,' winning all three matches. Kutner defeated Hayes 6-2, 6-1, sophomore Jaclyn Manning 6-2, 6-3, and sophomore Hayley McLaughlin in three sets, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Contrafatto also showed her strength as she came from behind in all but one of her sets in singles play. She defeated Smith 7-5, 6-3, junior Erika Olson 6-1, 6-1 and freshman Stephanie Tu 6-2, 7-5.
In Men's Flight 'B' singles, sophomore Sonnie Pollosco defeated senior Christopher Chang 6-3, 6-4. In the next round, Pollosco beat senior Joshua Beirne-Golden in a back-and-forth match, 6-2, 0-6, 6-0.
Pollosco's fatigue caught up with him after the enduring weekend, as he surrendered a loss in the third round to freshman Craig Berger.
Freshman Matt Hiznay dominated his first collegiate match as he overwhelmed Beirne-Golden 6-1, 6-0 with smart tennis, good direction and even a behind-the-back shot that surprised everyone.
In Women's Flight 'A' singles, Yamazaki defeated Tu 6-3, 6-2 and Smith 6-1, 6-3. In Flight 'B', senior captain Jackie Gavornik overcame Manning 6-1, 6-1 and Hayes 6-3, 6-1. Sophomore Ariel Donohue also defeated Hayes 6-1, 6-0 and Manning 7-5, 6-0.
Junior Karen Shih also went undefeated in the tournament in Flight 'C' singles and Flight 'B' doubles with junior partner Kristen Turturiello.
In doubles play, Junior Corey Ball and sophomore Eric Ferriere defeated NYU in tight matches 8-5, and 8-6.
Contrafatto and Gavornik also teamed together to beat NYU in the second round of doubles 8-3.
The women's team will travel to Rutgers University-Newark for a 3:30 p.m. game today. The men's team will take part in the Swarthmore College Invitational on Sept. 17-18.
(09/07/05 4:00pm)
Action began for the Lions men's soccer team this weekend as they swept all competition at the Ramapo College Invitational. The College now stands at 2-0 on the season.
Play began this past Saturday as the Lions took on the Bloodhounds of John Jay College and held them to a 6-0 shutout. The Lions also outshot the Bloodhounds 31-4.
"This tournament was a good way to start off the season, but the quality of the NJAC teams that we face later is incomparable," head coach Greg Nazario said. "Right now we're still in uncharted waters and I think after the tournament in North Carolina we will be able to get a better grasp on where we stand in the season."
Sophomore forward Matt Luber opened the scoring 28 minutes into the half, converting a pass from sophomore forward Craig Langan. Approaching halftime, the Lions gave themselves some cushion as freshman defenseman Brad Politi put one in the back of the net off of sophomore midfielder Joseph McGinley.
Junior midfielder Michael Ferber got the second half going as he scored an unassisted goal 20 minutes in. A minute later, Politi again added to the score, making it 4-0. Sophomore forward Nicholas Kiel recorded the assist.
"I think the tourney went very well and it should boost the confidence of our team," Kiel said. "We still could have scored more goals...but it was a good start to the season. We should be a pretty good force in the NJAC this year. We should go pretty far and I don't see us giving up any easy wins."
The Lions continued to run up the score as Luber scored once more off a pass from Politi. Within a minute, freshman forward Nick Ruskoski racked up the final goal of the game with Luber receiving an assist on the play.
Sophomore goalkeeper Matt Kasperavicius received the shutout win having to make only two saves. Junior goalkeeper Michael Podbielski of John Jay kept busy as he recorded 16 saves for the game.
On Sunday, the College faced New York Polytechnic Institute, dominating them 5-1. Junior striker Tim Dudek served up a hat trick and an assist for the game. Even more astonishing is that Dudek scored all three goals within 12 minutes of each other.
Nazario looked to make changes this year for the team's offense. Dudek made the move from defenseman to striker.
"I had always been a defender and coach Nazario asked me how I would feel moving up," Dudek said. "I told him I'd do anything to help out the team."
"I'm definitely getting more comfortable there because my teammates and coach are teaching me things I would have never known about being a striker. I love the team and I'm looking forward to helping with the scoring."
Dudek completed his first goal off a pass from Ferber only 4:52 into the game. Just 1:17 later, Dudek scored again, this time off of Langan's pass. Just over five minutes later, Dudek scored his final goal off stellar passing from McGiney and Ferber. With only 24 seconds left in the half, Dudek switched to passing and fed senior midfielder and captain Matthew Connor his goal for the day.
The Lions lost their hope for two straight shutout wins as Brian Duncan of the Fighting Blue Jays tightened the score 4-1 at 12:16 into the second half.
Ruskoski answered back and sent a pass from Luber into the back of the net to finish the game 5-1. In the net, Kasperavicius recorded only one save in the first half.
Sophomore goalkeeper Robert Prunetti took over in the second half, but did not make a single save. Joshua Kaufman made eight saves for New York Polytechnic.
"We should have a real good season and at least do much better than last year because we have a good core and a great coach," Dudek said. "We have all the right tools, we just have to put it all together."
This weekend the Lions will take part in the Esprit Division III Tournament at SAS Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. The team's next home game will take place Sept. 14 at 7:30 p.m. against Stevens Institute of Technology.
(08/31/05 4:00pm)
Coming off of a 12-3 record last spring, the College's men's tennis team is hoping it only needs slight improvement both individually and as a team in order to claim even more glory than last season.
The Lions finished last year ranked No. 8 regionally, and missed entering the NCAA Division III Regional Tournament by only one match.
Corey Ball and co-captain Ryan Carty, sophomores at the time, received a No. 2 regional ranking in doubles play and ended the season at 21-2.
Carty also claimed a No. 10 rank in singles play and was invited to compete in the NCAA Division III Singles Tournament where he fell in the first round and finished 22-5 on the season.
With these marks and an 11-match win streak that lasted from Feb. 13 through April 17, the Lions have reason to think they will push through the fall as an even stronger force in the region.
"(The players) have made great strides over the year and they know they still have a lot of room for improvement," head coach Scott Dicheck said. "We're very optimistic because six of our starters are back and we should improve in all areas to produce an even better season than last."
Dicheck's focus for the season will be to strengthen doubles in order to become an even more formidable opponent. Victor Lai and Ken Tsui of the third doubles team were the only graduation casualties.
The team is now looking towards incoming freshman Roger Mosteller to help balance both the singles and doubles lineups.
"I expect Roger to make an immediate impact because he has a lot of talent and a great mindset," Dicheck said. "He is a hard worker and he has a prominent chance of starting in singles and doubles. He could easily blend in both areas."
Because of the short season, the Lions' main focus is to finish at a higher rank than last spring and to reach regionals and nationals.
The season starts for the men at the Lions Fall Kickoff Sept. 10-11.
The men's season will comprise of only tournaments including regionals and nationals at the end of the fall.
(08/31/05 12:00pm)
The College's women's tennis team boasted a 14-3 record last spring which included 10 shutout wins. The Lions also continued their New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) winning streak, which now stands at 106 straight wins.
This season, the Lions will look to extend their conference winning streak as they endure five conference matches. In doing so, they will return sophomore Christina Contrafatto, the 2004 NJAC Rookie of the Year and NJAC Player of the Year, along with three NJAC All-Stars, junior Kristen Turturiello in singles and doubles, senior Jackie Gavornik in doubles and Ayumi Yamazaki in singles.
Head coach Scott Dicheck praises the team's strength and on-the-court intelligence, but he also believes the Lions are lacking one thing in their powerful lineup.
"We need to work on becoming a quicker team and increase the overall speed of our game," Dicheck said. "Most of our drills will focus on quickness and court coverage. We have a strong doubles and singles mixture, but we have the potential to be even stronger."
The Lions graduated only one player last spring, Katie D'Amato. A natural team leader, D'Amato went 12-2 in second doubles last season with Turturiello, and finished her stellar singles career at 44-23.
To help make up for the loss of graduated seniors on both the women's and men's side, Dicheck has brought in six freshmen, his biggest recruiting class yet.
"This will give us more depth on both sides," Dicheck said. "These are talented kids with good high school careers behind them, but they still have to come in and earn their positions on the court."
The women will see an impact from a trio of players. Incoming freshmen Haley Kutner, Erica Ollinick and Lindsey Katzel will all be fighting for starting spots this fall.
The women's team will join the men's squad to begin the season at the Lions Kickoff Tournament on Sept. 10-11.
The Lions will get their season going Labor Day weekend as they play John Jay College at the Ramapo College Invitational on Sept. 3, and New York Polytech the following day.
(08/24/05 4:00pm)
The College's women's tennis team boasted a 14-3 record last spring which included 10 shutout wins. The Lions also continued their New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) winning streak, which now stands at 106 straight wins.
This season, the Lions will look to extend their conference winning streak as they endure five conference matches. In doing so, they will return sophomore Christina Contrafatto, the 2004 NJAC Rookie of the Year and NJAC Player of the Year, along with three NJAC All-Stars, junior Kristen Turturiello in singles and doubles, senior Jackie Gavornik in doubles and Ayumi Yamazaki in singles.
Head coach Scott Dicheck praises the team's strength and on-the-court intelligence, but he also believes the Lions are lacking one thing in their powerful lineup.
"We need to work on becoming a quicker team and increase the overall speed of our game," Dicheck said. "Most of our drills will focus on quickness and court coverage. We have a strong doubles and singles mixture, but we have the potential to be even stronger."
The Lions graduated only one player last spring, Katie D'Amato. A natural team leader, D'Amato went 12-2 in second doubles last season with Turturiello, and finished her stellar singles career at 44-23.
To help make up for the loss of graduated seniors on both the women's and men's side, Dicheck has brought in six freshmen, his biggest recruiting class yet.
"This will give us more depth on both sides," Dicheck said. "These are talented kids with good high school careers behind them, but they still have to come in and earn their positions on the court."
The women will see an impact from a trio of players. Incoming freshmen Haley Kutner, Erica Ollinick and Lindsey Katzel will all be fighting for starting spots this fall.
The women's team will join the men's squad to begin the season at the Lions Kickoff Tournament on Sept. 10-11.
The Lions will get their season going Labor Day weekend as they play John Jay College at the Ramapo College Invitational on Sept. 3, and New York Polytech the following day.
(08/24/05 12:00pm)
Coming off of a 12-3 record last spring, the College's men's tennis team is hoping it only needs slight improvement both individually and as a team in order to claim even more glory than last season.
The Lions finished last year ranked No. 8 regionally, and missed entering the NCAA Division III Regional Tournament by only one match.
Corey Ball and co-captain Ryan Carty, sophomores at the time, received a No. 2 regional ranking in doubles play and ended the season at 21-2.
Carty also claimed a No. 10 rank in singles play and was invited to compete in the NCAA Division III Singles Tournament where he fell in the first round and finished 22-5 on the season.
With these marks and an 11-match win streak that lasted from Feb. 13 through April 17, the Lions have reason to think they will push through the fall as an even stronger force in the region.
"(The players) have made great strides over the year and they know they still have a lot of room for improvement," head coach Scott Dicheck said. "We're very optimistic because six of our starters are back and we should improve in all areas to produce an even better season than last."
Dicheck's focus for the season will be to strengthen doubles in order to become an even more formidable opponent. Victor Lai and Ken Tsui of the third doubles team were the only graduation casualties.
The team is now looking towards incoming freshman Roger Mosteller to help balance both the singles and doubles lineups.
"I expect Roger to make an immediate impact because he has a lot of talent and a great mindset," Dicheck said. "He is a hard worker and he has a prominent chance of starting in singles and doubles. He could easily blend in both areas."
Because of the short season, the Lions' main focus is to finish at a higher rank than last spring and to reach regionals and nationals.
The season starts for the men at the Lions Fall Kickoff Sept. 10-11.
The men's season will comprise of only tournaments including regionals and nationals at the end of the fall.
(04/27/05 4:00pm)
The College's men's tennis team, ranked No. 8 regionally, suffered a heartbreaking loss to No. 7 University of Rochester last Sunday.
With a score of 5-2, the Lions were only two sets short of receiving their ticket to Regionals and Nationals. They finished their season 11-3.
"We're all just so disappointed because we worked so hard and as much as I wanted it, I wanted it for them more," head coach Scott Dicheck said. "They really deserved it because they're such a close team and this is going to be so hard to get over."
The Lions started off strong to take two out of the three doubles matches for the point. There was intense play throughout the doubles ladder and excitement and cheers erupted after each individual point was won.
In first doubles, sophomore co-captain Ryan Carty and sophomore Corey Ball fought back and forth with freshmen Eric Hansen and Thanos Kanterelis of Rochester. Ball and Carty are ranked No. 2 regionally in doubles, while Hansen and Kanterelis are ranked No. 9.
After holding a tight 5-4 lead, Carty and Ball tore away to win the match 8-4.
Senior Ken Tsui and freshman Eric Ferriere also collected a win at third doubles against sophomore Michael Lee and senior Partha Bhattacharya 8-4.
"All week, Eric and I were playing well in practice, gaining confidence as time went on," Tsui said. "Our whole team was very excited for this match so we went into it so pumped up, and we just rode our emotions through the whole match. I was extremely happy to see the both of us play so well in the match, and I think it was the best match I ever played in my life."
After taking the doubles point, it seemed that nerves got to a few of the Lions' players. Carty was the only player to receive a singles win for the day.
In a tight first singles match, spectators were astonished at the play of his opponent, senior Avinash Reddy, who had multiple drop shots that Carty simply couldn't get to. However, Carty dug deep to prevail 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 in the three-set, 44-game match.
The Lions faced two other three-set matches along with one other tiebreaker but came up short in each one.
"I knew we would be a better team this year but I had no clue we would be this good because we made such an amazing transition in only one year," Dicheck said. "Our entire starting singles lineup only has one to two years of college experience and they've had so much success because they continued to improve as the year went on and we all got caught up in the excitement. Every match was a highlight because we had so much energy and intensity that led to big wins and upsets. They played incredible everyday."
In women's tennis, the Lions dominated in their last match of the season, shutting out the Yellowjackets 9-0.
In first doubles, freshman Christina Contrafatto and junior captain Jackie Gavornik overcame freshmen Colleen Cross and Shivani Kumar 9-8 in an energetic match.
The first doubles match was as close as Rochester got all day.
In second doubles, senior Katie D'Amato and sophomore Kristen Turturiello defeated freshman Alexa Perry and junior Tessa Baker 8-4.
Sophomores Karen Shih and Ayumi Yamazaki then overpowered junior Jaymi Della and freshman Vera Yakovchenko 8-2, in third doubles.
"It was awesome to end our season on a win because we've all been playing our best lately," D'Amato said. "It just brought the whole end of the season together real well and to have our last few matches be good wins was great."
In singles play, the Lions only had one set within two games. The rest were won by at least four.
Contrafatto began the domination at first singles by beating Cross 6-4, 6-1. Turturiello followed by trouncing Kumar 6-2, 6-1.
In third singles, Yamazaki bested Della 6-1, 6-0, while D'Amato crushed Perry 6-1, 6-0 in fourth singles. In fifth singles, Gavornik clobbered Baker, 6-0, 6-1, and Shih completed the shutout win by defeating Yakovchenko 6-2, 6-0.
The women ended their season with an overall 14-3 record and 6-0 record in NJAC to take the championship.
"The women had a great season because they met so many goals," Dicheck said. "They dominated the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) by not dropping a single set in conference play and they ended very strong, especially beating Skidmore College 9-0. It was a surprise ending accomplishment."
(04/20/05 4:00pm)
The College's men's tennis team was recognized this past Friday in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) regional men's tennis poll when they received a No. 8 ranking in the Northeast.
Individuals on the team also received nods from the ITA poll. In first doubles, sophomore co-captain Ryan Carty and sophomore Corey Ball earned a No. 2 rank in the Northeast. The duo is now 18-2 on the season together.
In addition, Carty is now ranked No. 10 regionally after being ranked No. 18 in the preseason.
Carty is now 9-2 in first singles dual match competition and 11-1 in tournament play for the season, raising his career record to 26-12.
"We were very excited about the rankings because we felt like we earned it based on what we've done so far this season," head coach Scott Dicheck said. "Hopefully we can move up in the standings as the rest of the season continues."
On Sunday, the Lions responded to their new ranking with a dominating victory over Skidmore College, 5-2. The victory was the Lions' 11th straight. That streak was snapped on Monday with a 4-3 loss to Bates College. The Lions are now 11-2.
In Monday's 4-3 loss to Bates, ranked No. 4 in the Northeast, Carty and Ball lost first singles 8-4 to junior William Boe-Wiegaard and senior Sam Duvall. It was the third doubles loss of the year for Carty and Ball.
The Bobcats swept doubles play from the Lions and split singles play to take the win.
Carty also suffered a first singles loss in three sets to Boe-Wiegaard, who is ranked No. 48 in Division III singles. Ball picked up a two-set win in fifth singles over Duvall.
Freshmen Eric Ferriere and Michael Klimchak accounted for the Lions' other victories in singles play.
Against Skidmore, action began in doubles play as the Lions won two out of the three matches for the point. In first doubles, Carty and Ball fell to senior Russell Cloder and junior Greg Sher 8-5. It was only the second loss of the season for the Lions' tandem.
In second doubles, junior co-captain Justin Cook and freshman Michael Klimchak of the College defeated sophomore Alex Iselin and junior Stephen Hibino 8-3. Lions' senior Ken Tsui and freshman Eric Ferriere then beat sophomores Greg Rodiloso and Jack Martin 8-4 in third doubles for the team point.
In singles play, Cloder overcame Carty 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 in first singles. Carty began to cramp up during the third set but still played the remainder of the match.
Cook then lost to Sher in second singles 6-3, 2-6, 6-0 in a back-and-forth match. In third singles, the Lions regained their momentum as Klimchak trounced Iselin 6-0, 6-2. Ferriere continued the trend at fourth singles to defeat Hibino 6-1, 6-4.
The match generated some hostility when some Lions were upset over the behavior of Skidmore's coach.
"Skidmore's coach was being pretty arrogant and belligerent," Lions' freshman Sonnie Pollosco said. "There was some tension between the coaches over some matches we've had between each other in the past few years because of their coach's behavior."
Women's tennis came away with a huge shutout win against rival Skidmore, 9-0. The Lions now stand at 13-3 on the year while the Thoroughbreds fall to 6-7.
Play began in doubles as the College took all three matches away from Skidmore. In first doubles, freshman Christina Contrafatto and junior captain Jackie Gavornik were down 4-7 but won five straight games to defeat senior Whitney Dolan and sophomore Gabrielle Rosenthal 9-7.
Sophomore Kristen Turturiello and senior Katie D'Amato vanquished freshmen Jennifer Grabler and Kyra Travis 8-1 in second doubles. The pair is now 11-2 in dual match doubles play.
Sophomores Karen Shih and Ayumi Yamazaki then crushed sophomores Taylor Parrott and Emily Sharpe 8-1 in third doubles. The duo is now 12-1 on the year in dual matches.
In singles play, Contrafatto started out the Lions with a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Dolan in first singles. In second singles, Turturiello came from behind to beat Rosenthal 5-7, 6-2, 6-2. Then, Yamazaki grabbed the third singles win against Grabler 6-3, 6-0. Yamazaki is now 14-1 in dual singles action this season.
In fourth singles D'Amato captured the victory against freshman Kate Hugo 6-1, 6-1. Gavornik then clobbered Parrott 6-1, 6-0 for the fifth singles win. Shih rounded out the match at sixth singles to defeat Travis 6-2, 6-4.
"We were all excited to win (against Skidmore), especially since it was a shutout," Contrafatto said. "Some of us were down and able to fight for a win and some of us were on our games. We have one more match but it is definitely a good way to end the season.
Men's tennis will visit Drew University in their next match on April 20. Women's tennis will host the University of Rochester on April 23 and the men will also face Rochester at home on April 24.
(04/13/05 4:00pm)
The men's tennis team extended their win streak to 10 this past Sunday against Wheaton College to put them at a 10-1 record on the year.
The Wheaton Lyons, who lost the match 5-2, now stand at 11-2 this season. They were previously ranked as high as ninth in the Northeast.
Action started as the Lions took two out of the three doubles matches to receive the point against the Lyons. Sophomore co-captain Ryan Carty and sophomore Corey Ball came from behind to defeat sophomore Payum Payman and junior Matt Sheers 8-6 in an energetic first doubles match.
In second doubles, junior co-captain Justin Cook and freshman Michael Klimchak beat junior Nick Potter and freshman Jared Karlebach 8-3. Seniors Ken Tsui and Victor Lai then fell to sophomores Brad Dressler and Brian Danishevesky 8-4.
In singles play, the Lions experienced more drama than they had hoped for. In first singles, Carty beat Payman 6-1 in the first set. Payman battled back in the second to reach a 5-2 game score. Carty then rallied, with the help of his cheering teammates, to come from behind and beat Payman 7-5 in the second set.
After Carty's match, Payman was overheard calling the Lions obnoxious and rude. He blamed his loss on their cheers and admitted to struggling because of the pressure.
"I think it's great (that Payman felt that way) because we are not a 'rude' team, we are just well aware of how much pressure it puts on the opposing player," freshman Donald Pollosco said. "Its done intentionally to motivate our players as well as get into the opponent's head, and it works."
Pollosco had a dramatic match against Karlebach in sixth singles. Pollosco lost the first set 6-3 but gained momentum as he took the second set 6-2. Suddenly, in the middle of the third set, Pollosco began to falter. He tumbled to the ground due to cramping and heat exhaustion.
Already up 4-1, Pollosco refused to stop and played through the pain. Not able to go after short hits or be as quick as normal, Pollosco still managed to continue his drive and overpowered his opponent to beat him 6-2 in the third set.
After the final hit, Karlebach grew furious with his loss and hurled his racket far over the tennis court fence. He was led out of the complex by a teammate. "It was a little much," Pollosco said. "I would have been pissed too, but that was crazy."
"I took (Karlebach) aside and explained to him that a lot of these kids have tempers out here, but he has to learn how to control it," Lions head coach Scott Dicheck said. "He's a freshman and he has a good career ahead of him if he can control it."
Singles matches were also won by Klimchak and Ball to give the Lions the win.
"The win was definitely a confidence boost for the team because they knew the importance of it and it put pressure on them, but they were ready for it," Dicheck said. "We just do what we practice and these are the kind of matches we love to have."
Women's tennis also beat Wheaton by a socre of 6-3. The win puts the Lions at 12-3 on the year and drops the Lyons to 8-8.
The Lions began by taking two of the three doubles matches to go up 2-1 in the match. Both second and third doubles won their matches 8-1. Senior Katie D'Amato and sophomore Kristen Turturiello claimed the second doubles match while sophomores Karen Shih and Ayumi Yamazaki took the third doubles win.
In singles play, the Lions captured four of the six matches to receive the win. Two of these wins were come-from-behind victories for the Lions.
Turturiello overcame sophomore Jamie Weiss 7-6 in the tiebreaker, then 6-2 in the second set. Turturiello was down 5-2 in the first set but came back to declare her victory in second singles.
In sixth singles, sophomore Jackie Prybylkowski endured a 6-1 loss in the first set, but never fell behind for the next two sets to win the match 1-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Yamazaki trounced senior Maris Madeira in third singles 6-0, 6-1, and D'Amato crushed sophomore Eden Gudonis in fourth singles to win 6-1, 6-1.
"I was really happy that we won today against Wheaton," Yamazaki said. "We had several close matches these past few weeks and we definitely needed to win today."
On Saturday, the Lions women lost to Vassar College, 6-3. Wins were received by Turturiello and D'Amato in second doubles, Shih and Yamazaki in third doubles and Yamazaki in third singles.
Yamazaki was the only player on the women's side to remain undefeated throughout the weekend for the Lions.
"It was the best team we played all year," Dicheck said. "We knew it would be a tough, challenging match but I think we played well."
Men's tennis also faced Vassar and defeated them 6-1. The loss gives Vassar a 5-5 record on the year.
Last Tuesday, the Lions faced the Fords of Haverford College. The team went 7-0 in the match, never losing a single set to the Fords. Haverford dropped to 2-5 after the match.
Both the men's and women's tennis teams will play their next match on April 17 at Skidmore College. Men's tennis will host Bates College on April 18.
(04/06/05 4:00pm)
The College's men's tennis team continued its seven-game winning streak by trouncing Connecticut College 7-0. The win gives them four shutouts on the season with a 7-1 record and leaves Connecticut at 0-5.
The Lions ran away with the match, having only one set within four games and beating the Camels 97 individual games to 19.
The annihilation began in doubles play as sophomore co-captain Ryan Carty and sophomore Corey Ball defeated junior Ned Minevitz and freshman Craig Hutchinson of Connecticut 8-2 in first doubles. The trend continued as the second doubles team, seniors Ken Tsui and Victor Lai, dominated over Camels' freshman Gabriel Sidman and sophomore Ben Sherman 8-2.
The Lions also took the third doubles match as freshmen Eric Ferriere and Mike Klimchak beat senior Brandon Gatlin and freshman Jamie Harris 8-1.
"Their team was one of the weaker teams that we played all year," Klimchak said. "But a win is a win no matter who you play so overall I guess it was a good trip."
The victorious pattern remained uninterrupted as the Lions entered singles play.
Carty began by ruling the court in his first singles victory against Minevitz 6-1, 6-0. Carty now holds a 17-2 record in singles play this year and is vying for a singles birth into nationals along with All-American status.
Junior Justin Cook edged Hutchinson 7-5 in the first set but played stronger in the second to defeat him 6-2 in second singles. In third singles, Mike Klimchak shut out Sidman in all games for a 6-0, 6-0 triumph.
Despite Sunday's overpowering win, the Lions have a lot of competition ahead of them.
"The last eight matches of our season include a lot of good teams, four of which we lost to last year," head coach Scott Dicheck said. "Currently, three of those teams are also ranked ahead of us, so we will just go match by match."
The mid-season rankings will come out around April 15 and how high the Lions are ranked depends on how they do in the next few matches.
"I don't really have any predictions because I've never seen any of the three teams (Bates College, University of Rochester and Wheaton College) play," Klimchak said. "But because our team has such great competitors, you never know what could happen; we could win all three."
Women's tennis suffered their second loss of the season to Connecticut College 5-4. The match puts them at 11-2 for the year and improves Connecticut to 7-5.
The Lions were only able to collect one win in doubles play, sacrificing the point to the Camels. Freshman Christina Contrafatto and junior captain Jackie Gavornik squeaked by sophomores Beret Remak and Amanda Poe 9-7 as the second and third doubles teams both fell to their foes 8-6.
Freshman Lisa Steckmest and senior Laura Demoreuille of Connecticut slipped by sophomore Kristen Turturiello and senior Katie D'Amato in second doubles while freshman Kari Barklis and junior Holly Bawden defeated the College's sophomores Karen Shih and Ayumi Yamazaki in a tight third doubles match.
The Lions then went 3-3 in singles play, which was not enough to take the match away from the Camels.
Contrafatto endured a first singles loss to Remak 6-1, 6-3, while Turturiello followed by almost forcing a third set to lose to Steckmest in second singles 6-3, 7-5.
"The match today was hard," Contrafatto said. "But that makes us want to push ourselves harder."
Yamazaki picked up some slack for the Lions as she vanquished her opposition 6-1, 6-1 in third singles. D'Amato then sustained a loss to Poe 6-3, 6-7 in the tiebreaker, and then 6-0 in the final set of fourth singles.
Gavornik then turned things back around for the Lions streaking past freshman Danielle Coleman of Connecticut 6-1, 6-2 to earn a 10-1 dual match record in singles play so far this season. Shih then wrapped up the competition in Connecticut to squash her adversary 6-1, 6-0.
"I'm not surprised because it was a tough loss and a great match," Dicheck said. "It went back and forth the whole time and it could have gone either way."
This weekend, men's and women's tennis will face Vassar College at home on April 9. On April 10, the Lions will host Wheaton College in the Lions' Sesquicentennial Match.
(03/30/05 5:00pm)
For the College's men's tennis team, Sunday's 4-3 win against New York University (NYU) left quite an impression.
"It was the best match I've ever been a part of in my life," senior Ken Tsui said. The deciding victory came down to sophomore first singles player Ryan Carty. Carty entered the match in a weakened condition due to an illness he faced a couple days before the match.
The other obstacle Carty faced was his opponent, sophomore Ian Corn. On the second set of their match, Carty seemingly hit a winner down the line for the set point. To everyone's disbelief, Corn called it out of bounds while the official was elsewhere.
"At that point everyone was so pissed, so our team got together and said let's help Carty win by pumping him up," Tsui said. "It was amazing how everyone got behind him." Carty's teammates shouted and cheered him on throughout the match.
Carty lost focus for the game after the questionable call but fought hard to capture the second set win in a tiebreaker. Corn had won the previous set 6-3, so the match went to a deciding third set.
The tension was thick on the court as Carty shot Corn an intimidating stare while passing by each other to switch sides. After Carty took a 1-0 lead in the deciding set, Corn forfeited, saying that he could not continue playing, and gave Carty the win. Corn had stopped the match at one point for medical attention, which consisted of rubbing lotion on his upper thighs.
When the victory was announced, the Lions rushed at Carty in an explosive celebration. Carty's triumph gave the Lions the win for the first time against NYU in three years.
Corn, however, was frustrated and bitter after his loss and shouted about how good he is while heading out of the tennis complex. Carty quickly reminded Corn of his 0-3 record against him repeatedly as Corn walked away in defeat.
"Ryan Carty is one of the toughest competitors around," head coach Scott Dicheck said. "He beat that kid because he had the most heart."
The match was just as tough for the rest of the Lions. The excitement started early when the first and third doubles matches were split between the College and NYU.
First doubles team Carty and sophomore Corey Ball defeated their opponents 8-0 while freshmen Mike Klimchak and Eric Ferriere fell 8-6 by only a two-game deficit. This forced the doubles point to be decided by senior second doubles partners Victor Lai and Tsui.
Tsui's consistent serves in the final set kept him and Lai in the game as they continued to exchange advantages with freshman Mikhail Gurevich and senior Joshua Beirne-Golden. The Lions came up just short in the match, losing 8-5, to give NYU one team point.
Klimchak, Ball and freshman Donald Pollosco had two-set wins in singles for the Lions to force Carty's deciding match.
The College's women's tennis team notched another win on Saturday, easily defeating the Rangers of Drew University 9-0. The team lost only 11 out of the 107 individual games played in the match.
"We go out and play our best every match and never take a team lightly," freshman Christina Contrafatto said. "We always give 100 percent no matter how the good the team we're playing is. Last week's loss (to Carnegie Mellon) was to a really tough team and since we did better against them then in the fall, it was actually a confidence boost for us."
Both the men's and women's teams will travel to Connecticut College for their next match on April 3.
(03/23/05 5:00pm)
Women's tennis ended a regular season 13-game winning streak on Sunday when they lost 5-4 against Carnegie Mellon University (CMU).
The loss gives them a 10-1 record after beating University of Mary Washington (UMW) on Saturday 5-4. CMU improved to 9-2 on the season, while UMW's record now stands at 3-5. "The loss to Carnegie Mellon is going to make it a little tougher to get into regionals now," sophomore Karen Shih said. "We knew it was going to be a tight match, so it was probably more of a disappointment since we beat them last year and we definitely could have beaten them again."
The Lions began the day by taking two of the three doubles matches but were unable to maintain their lead by receiving only two of the six singles points. Senior Katie D'Amato and junior captain Jackie Gavornik took fourth and fifth singles victories for the day.
CMU came into the match on a six-match win streak. Shih, who helped the Lions by working with sophomore Ayumi Yamazaki at third doubles to beat senior Kavita Shah and sophomore Asaka Hayashi, 8-6, is focused on improving as the season continues.
"We did well, but we just need to adjust to playing outdoors," Shih said. "This weekend was our first match outside so it was completely different."
Sophomore Kristen Turturiello and D'Amato forced the second doubles win against CMU's junior Alison Liu and senior Christina Weng 8-4.
"It was a tough loss because they were ranked number 15 in the country and we went in as underdogs and actually played a really good match," head coach Scott Dicheck said. "We just came up a little short, but if we continue to improve as we have been doing, then we'll be fine for the rest of the year."
In the match against UMW, Yamazaki and Shih pulled the only doubles win of the day defeating sophomores Emily Brimer and Bethany O'Connor 8-6. They also won two of the four singles victories for the College at third and sixth singles.
Freshman Christina Contrafatto posted a 6-1, 6-1 victory over junior Gayle Smith in first singles and Turturiello defeated senior Eve Helmer 6-3, 6-3 in second singles play.
Men's tennis continued their own win streak this past weekend, defeating CMU, the No. 23 ranked team in Division III. CMU fell to 7-3 on the year. The Lions collected the 6-1 win and then returned to the courts the next day to shut out Salisbury University 6-0.
The wins put the Lions at 5-1 on the season with a five-game winning streak and a promising outlook on the rest of the year.
"We have to beat the University of Rochester, Bates College and Wheaton College and I think we can beat any one of them," freshman Donald Pollosco said. "It won't be easy, but we're definitely good enough."
Sophomore co-captain Ryan Carty and sophomore Corey Ball began the weekend with a first doubles win defeating freshman Ryan Laws and junior Carl Yang of CMU 8-0. Freshmen Eric Ferriere and Mike Klimchak then fought against freshmen Andrew Clearfield and Stephen Kuhn to receive the doubles point for the Lions, beating them 8-6. The Lions then went 5-1 in singles play.
"I knew it would be a close match but the guys performed just like they have all season," Dicheck said. "When it gets close, the guys just find a way to win and I'm surprised they won as big as they did."
The momentum in singles play returned with the team the next day to defeat Salisbury 6-0. No doubles matches were played against the Sea Gulls due to time constraints.
The men's next match is away on March 24 versus Haverford College and the women's next match will be held at home on March 26 against Drew University. Men's tennis will also be home on March 26 against New York University.
(03/16/05 5:00pm)
The College's men's and women's tennis teams took home plenty of momentum going into Spring Break.
They dominated the courts on March 4 to capture two shutout wins against Ithaca College.
The 9-0 win pushed the women to a 9-0 record while dropping Ithaca to 7-6. The men improved to 3-1 on the year after the 7-0 win, while Ithaca now stands at 1-6 with the loss.
"Our team this year has been one of the best teams I have been on because everybody wants to win no matter what it takes," freshman Michael Klimchak said. "It seems like we are all true competitors."
From top to bottom, each player had complete control of their opponents. The Lions ran away with all of their doubles matches, the closest score being 8-3.
"Our main focus for the match was to have a strong doubles showing because we're always working on just trying to get better and we don't necessarily worry about where a team may stand when we face them," head coach Scott Dicheck said. "I'm really happy with the results of both teams because we played well which is promising for the bigger matches that we have coming up."
"We just wanted to play smart, use what we learned in practice and not make the same mistakes that we have in the past," sophomore third doubles player Karen Shih said.
In women's first singles play, freshman Christina Contrafatto defeated junior Narguess Arjomand 6-1, 6-1. Sophomore Kristen Turturiello then beat sophomore Melissa Walsh 6-1, 6-0 in second singles.
In third and fourth singles, sophomore Ayumi Yamazaki and senior Katie D'Amato both clobbered their opponents, sophomore Erin Chapman and freshman Elizabeth Cohen, 6-0, 6-0.
In fifth singles, sophomore Jackie Pryzbylkowski defeated junior Katherine Dempsey 6-4, 6-1. Freshman Ariel Donohue sealed the Lions' final victory by beating the Bombers' sophomore Megan Keenan 6-1, 6-3.
"Every match counts as to whether or not we make it to nationals again this year," Shih said. "I think if we keep playing smart we can definitely do it again."
In men's singles play, the team was missing sophomore Ryan Carty, who usually plays first singles and doubles, due to scheduling conflicts. The team, however, made up for his absence and took command over Ithaca.
In first singles, junior co-captain Justin Cook stepped up and rallied to defeat junior Chris Ciolino 6-7, 6-3, 6-2. In second singles, Klimchak beat sophomore Colin Flynn 6-0, 6-1.
"I try to look at every match in the same way because you never know who you are going to play," Klimchak said. "Some teams could have a losing record but the person that you are playing against could be a good match-up for you so we go in wanting to win no matter who the opponent is."
Freshman Eric Ferriere continued the Lions' success at third singles to defeat the Bombers' sophomore Joe Young 6-0, 6-2. At fourth singles, sophomore Corey Ball trounced his opponent, freshman Jeff Buffum 6-0, 6-1.
In fifth singles play, freshman Donald "Sonnie" Pollosco obtained the victory by defeating senior Darren Hochberg 6-4, 6-1. Rounding out the competition in sixth singles was senior Ken Tsui, who crushed sophomore Ty Kennedy 6-0, 6-0.
"If we play like we did the first half of the season, we will do extremely well and hopefully make it to regionals," Klimchak said. "As long as we can keep up our intensity and drive to win and play well against the top teams, then we can't ask anything more."