Click Here For PDF File
MEN’S TENNIS NOTES
BRYANT AIMS FOR POSTSEASON; OPENS SEASON WITH IMPRESSIVE SHOWING AT BROWN INVITE
After completing its five-year NCAA reclassification process, Bryant is eligible for the first time to participate in the NEC Tournament this coming April. Under head coach Ron Gendron, the Bulldogs posted a 3-1 mark against NEC competition last season, including a 6-1 win over conference runner-up Monmouth and a 5-2 setback to league champion FDU.
Bryant junior Vidith Hout (Providence, RI/Classical) (pictured) won his flight at the season-opening Brown Invitational, defeating BU’s Brandon Phan, 6-3, 6-0, in the finals on September 16. The NEC Player of the Month posted a 3-0 singles record in his 2012-13 debut.
Also returning this year for the Bulldogs are a pair of sophomore All-NEC players in Ernesto Arguello (Managua, Nicaragua/American Nicaraguan School) and Juan Gonzalez-Paz (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola).
• NEC Front Row Tennis Debut: NEC Front Row, the league’s new digital network, saw its first live tennis webcast last Wednesday as the Bryant women took on Providence. The site (www.NECFrontRow.com) offers free live and on-demand video, and will soon expand to include a mobile app for the iPhone and iPad.
• New Blood: Both Fairleigh Dickinson and Wagner enter the 2012-13 campaign under new leadership. FDU assistant Jonathan Mitchell recently took over for NEC coaching legend Ira Miller, who guided the Knights to a pair of conference titles. Buchman served as an assistant under Miller during the 2011-12 season and helped the Knights to a sweep of the NEC men’s and women’s crowns...Nikita Zotov, a former University of Iowa tennis standout, replaced Joel Javan at Wagner. Zotov notched 17 singles and 21 doubles victories over his three years in Ames.
• Defending Champs Open Strong: Defending NEC champion FDU has competed in two fall tournaments highlighted by reigning NEC Rookie and Player of the Year Arvis Berzins (Adazi, Latvia/Riga Centre Language School) winning the consolation of the Tiger Draw at the Farnsworth/Princeton Invitational and sophomore Julien Philippe (Paris, France/Lycee Notre Dame de Boulogne) winning Flight H at the USTA Invitational. Senior Yuri Gricheno (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Amorim) also reached the Flight D singles finals at the USTA meet and teamed with classmate Peter Skvarka (Banska Bystrica, Slovakia / Gymnazium J.G. Tajovskeho) to finish as runner-up in Flight C doubles.
• QU Newcomer Impresses: Quinnipiac sophomore Sebastian Barbero (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Schiller International) began his career with the Bobcats on a high note, completing his first month of action with a 5-2 overall mark. At the Stony Brook Invitational, Barbero advanced to the Flight “C” Singles Championship match.
• Hawk Talk: 2012 NEC runner-up Monmouth took the fall tournament circuit this month with sophomore Freddy Marcinkowski (Sparta, NJ/Sparta) and freshman Ramy Bekhiet (Robbinsville, NJ/Robbinsville) combining to post a 11-6 singles record and 5-4 doubles mark.
• Impact Newcomers For Sacred Heart, Saint Francis (PA): Saint Francis (PA) freshman Washi Gervais (Longueuil, Quebec/College Stanislas) posted a 4-3 mark over his first two collegiate tournaments to collect NEC Rookie of the Month honors. He went 2-1 at the Bucknell Invitational, losing in the Flight B final, then finished 2-2 at the USTA Invitational. Sacred Heart freshman Matt Dean (Newington, CT/Rocky Hill) won three-of-four matches and reached the semifinals of the USTA Invitational.
• Here & There: St. Francis (NY) sophomore Francesc Terns-Campius (Barcelona, Spain) posted back-to-back victories at #3 singles last week in the Terriers’ setbacks to Sacred Heart and Siena... Robert Morris opened its 2012-13 campaign with a 7-0 victory over Mercyhurst, the program’s first sweep of an opponent since March of 2008...Wagner opened its fall season at the Stony Brook Invitational on September 7-8.
• Men’s Tennis HQ: For all the latest NEC men’s tennis news, visit www.northeastconference.org. You can also follow the league on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube (@NECsports) as well as the NEC Overtime! blog (necovertime.com).
Milestone Watch
• Mike Quitko (QU Head Coach)
Quitko is 15 wins shy of 500 for his career, which includes six NEC women’s titles and four men’s crowns.
Quotable
• Mike Quitko (QU Head Coach)
“2012-13 is going to be a strong year for us. We have great leadership and talent at the top end of our team. Along with some new faces, there’s no reason we shouldn’t compete for an NEC Title.”
• Paul Tobin (SFPA Head Coach)
“Some of our players really stepped up this weekend. All-in-all, it was a very strong and encouraging first tournament for us. Washi [Gervais] and Kevin [Pijper] stood out but there were plenty of positives up and down the roster.” - after opening season at Bucknell Quad
• Tweet - @SFC_JimH
@SFCTerriers Good start to the season for #SFCMTennis sophomore Francesc Terns-Campius who is 2-0 in singles after today’s match at Siena.
WOMEN’S TENNIS NOTES
DEFENDING NEC CHAMPION FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON OFF TO STRONG START IN TOURNAMENT PLAY
Last April, Fairleigh Dickinson won its first NEC title since 1988, and with four key players back this season, the Knights are off to a strong start in their quest to repeat. Senior Egzona Morina (Prishtina, Kosovo/ American School of Kosovo), a three-time All-NEC honoree, was dominant at the Army Invitational this past weekend with three of her four singles wins coming in straight sets to win the #2 flight championship. Along the way, she defeated players from Stony Brook, UMass and two from Fordham to earn NEC Player of the Month honors. A week earlier, freshman Nicole Cris (Highland Park, NJ/Highland Park) posted a 4-0 record to capture the Flight C title at the Stony Brook Classic. She was tabbed NEC Rookie of the Month for her performance.
• New Blood: Both Fairleigh Dickinson and Wagner enter the 2012-13 campaign under new leadership. FDU assistant Jonathan Mitchell recently took over for NEC coaching legend Ira Miller, who guided the Knights to seven conference titles. Buchman served as an assistant under Miller during the 2011-12 season and helped the Knights to a sweep of the NEC men’s and women’s crowns...Myriam Sopel, a former Indiana University team captain, assumed the top spot at Wagner, replacing Joel Javan. Sopel was recognized over her last three years as an Academic All-American, a Big 10 Distinguished Scholar and as an Indiana University Founders Scholar (GPA of 3.8 or higher).
• NEC Front Row Tennis Debut: NEC Front Row, the league’s new digital network, saw its first live tennis webcast last Wednesday as Bryant took on Providence. The site (www.NECFrontRow.com) offers free live and on-demand video, and will soon expand to include a mobile app for the iPhone and iPad.
• Bryant Eyes Postseason: After completing its five-year NCAA reclassification process, Bryant is eligible for the first time to participate in the NEC Tournament this coming April. Under head coach Ron Gendron, the Bulldogs were a perfect 4-0 against NEC rivals in 2011-12, including a 5-2 win over eventual conference champion Quinnipiac.
• QU’s Cantor Hits Milestone: Quinnipiac senior Rachel Cantor (Short Hills, NJ/Millburn) completed a 7-4 overall record for the month of September, a mark that included her 100th career win at the Army Invitational. Cantor defeated Army’s Erin Colton, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 10-2, in the opening round of Flight A singles to become the 16th player in Quinnipiac history to reach the milestone. She also reached the Quinnipiac Invitational semifinals. In doubles action, Cantor paired with classmate Sarah Viebrock (Carmel, NY/John F. Kennedy Catholic) to post a 4-2 record on the month, including wins over Rhode Island, Providence, Army and Stony Brook.
• Pioneer, Red Flash Freshman Impress: Talk about impressive debuts. Saint Francis (PA) freshman Rafalea Panizza (Jundiai, Brazil) made quite a splash in her first collegiate action, going 4-0 to win the Flight B title for the Red Flash at the Bucknell Quad. In the final, she knocked off Bucknell’s Stephanie Pino, 6-0, 6-1. She dropped just 12 games the entire tourney. Meanwhile, Sacred Heart freshman Lindsey Post (Danbury, CT/Danbury) advanced to the semifinals of her flight in the first collegiate tournament of her young career, beating a pair of players from UConn.
• Here & There: Bryant fell to Providence, 6-1, in its season opener. Senior Lucy Bird (Hamilton, New Zealand/Hillcrest) won at #6 singles for the Bulldogs...Competing at the Stony Brook Classic, LIU Brooklyn’s Lisa Maas (Norden, Germany/Middle Tennessee State) advanced to the semifinals of the B flight singles, while Taysha Blessington (Sydney, Australia/Roseville College) and Sanne Louwers (Nuenen, Netherlands/Mgr. Cuytenlaan) made the semifinals of the A doubles flight...Monmouth is off to a 1-2 start in dual meet play, including a 6-1 win over Garden State rival Rider on Monday... Robert Morris opened its 2012-13 campaign with a 4-3 setback at home against Mercyhurst...Sacred Heart won its NEC opener over Monmouth, 7-0, on September 19...Wagner began its dual match season with a 6-1 setback to Siena on Saturday. Sophomore Julia Teichman (Plymouth Meeting, PA / Germantown Academy) picked up the lone Green & White victory at #5 singles.
• Women’s Tennis HQ: For all the latest NEC women’s tennis news, visit www.northeastconference.org. You can also follow the league on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube (@NECsports) as well as the NEC Overtime! blog (necovertime.com).
Milestone Watch
• Rachel Cantor (QU)
Cantor picked up career win #100 at the Army Invitational to become 16th player in Quinnipiac history to reach the milestone.
• Mike Quitko (QU Head Coach)
Quitko is 15 wins shy of 500 for his career, which includes six NEC women’s titles and four men’s crowns.
Quotable
• Mike Quitko (QU Head Coach)
“The team is growing. Every time we get out there, we are playing a little bit better. We have to work on getting into better shape because we had a little bit of cramping and it’s important to be healthy. But if we stay healthy, we’re going to be tough to beat.”
• Paul Tobin (SFPA Head Coach) “It was a very strong and encouraging first tournament for all the players. The four other teams competing - Bucknell, Loyola, Niagara and IUP - came ready to play and brought some very talented players. Rafaela (Panizza) beat Bucknell’s number three singles player to win the Flight “B”...she only gave up 12 games during the entire tournament.” - after opening season at Bucknell Quad