NEC Release
Photo Gallery
FDU vs. Bryant Results
WEST WINDSOR, N.J. --
The No. 2 seed Fairleigh Dickinson men's tennis team won its second-straight Northeast Conference Championship title Sunday, as the Knights rallied from a 3-1 deficit to defeat top-seeded Bryant, 4-3, at the Mercer County Tennis Center. With the victory, FDU improves to 9-7 on the season and will advance to the NCAA Tournament, while the Bulldogs finish the year with an overall record of 14-10 after losing their first match of the season to a conference opponent.
The Knights, who lost to Bryant by an identical 4-3 score in their first match of the spring season, avenged their only conference loss in thrilling fashion. FDU dropped the doubles' point and saw the Bulldogs win two of the first three singles matches to fall into a 3-1 hole before winning the final three to clinch the win.
Getting off on the wrong foot, the Knights put themselves in an early hole after dropping the doubles' point. In the No. 2 doubles spot, Bryant's duo of Ernesto Arguello and Vidith Hoyt pulled away from seniors Mark Hemy (Suffolk, England/Ipswich School) and Peter Skvarka (Banska Bystrica, Slovakia/Gymnazium J.G. Tajovskeho) for an 8-3 victory. With the score tied, 4-4, at No. 3, senior Yuri Gricheno (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Amorim) and freshman Julien Philippe (Paris, France/Saint Honoré d’Eylau) dropped the next four games and ultimately the match, 8-4, to Max Vogt and Munir Serin, which gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead after claiming the doubles' point.
Singles play started out well for FDU, with senior Ibrahim Shams (Cairo, Egypt/Manor House) knotting the match, 1-1, after cruising to a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 2 over Vogt. Not long after, Bryant reclaimed the lead at 2-1 with a straight-set victory at No. 3, as Dana Parziale defeated Gricheno, 6-3, 6-2.
At No. 4 singles, Hemy dropped the first set to Arguello, 6-3, and led the fourth set, 5-4, before seeing Arguello rally to win the final three games to take the match, while giving the Bulldogs a 3-1 lead. Skvarka then started the comeback for the Knights, winning easily at No. 5 over Hoyt, 6-2, 6-1, to cut the deficit to 3-2, with the matches at No. 1 and No. 6 heading into third sets.
Sophomore Arvis Berzins (Adazi, Latvia/Riga Language School) dropped the first set in his match with Zachary Morris at No. 1, 6-4. But he rallied to win the next two, 6-4, 6-4, tying the match, 3-3.
The NEC title and an NCAA berth came down to the match at No. 6 with freshman Markus Sjoberg (Tyreso, Sweden/Varmdo Gymnasium) and Joshua Rubenstein. Rubenstein took the first set, 6-2, before Sjoberg bounced back with a 6-3 win in the second set. In the title-deciding third set, Sjoberg was cool under the pressure and rolled to a 6-2 victory to give FDU the match and the championship.
With Sjoberg's win, the Knights won their second-straight NEC championship and 12th in the program's history. FDU earns the NEC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The first round of the NCAA tournament will take place May 10-12, with opponents and location to be announced.
