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TITLETOWN! HOST OF NEC PLAYERS TAKE HOME INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS IN OCTOBER

The fall tennis season has come to a close but not before a slew of impressive individual performances at ITA Regionals and a host of singles titles won by NEC players during the month of October.
 
Wagner freshman Michal Rolski (Kielczow, Poland/Oak Meadow (VT)) certainly made a splash last month when he beat three-time NEC Player of the Year Arvis Berzins (Adazi, Latvia/Riga Language School) of FDU en-route to winning the “A” flight title at the Quinnipiac Invitational.  Rolski beat opponents from Fordham and QU before ousting Berzins in the semis.  In the title match he stopped QU’s Kei Ezaka, 3-6, 6-1, 10-4.  Rolski finished the month 6-2 in singles and advanced to the second round at ITA Regionals.
 
Berzins quickly regrouped to make a spectacular run to the ITA Regional quarterfinals.  He downed opponents from Saint Francis U, Dartmouth and Harvard before dropping a 6-4, 7-6 (4) decision to Columbia’s Dragos Ignat, a first team All-Ivy League player.

Rolski and Berzins were named NEC Co-Players of the Month for their performances and Rolski was also tabbed NEC Rookie of the Month.
 
Saint Francis U senior Chris Jimenez (Bayside, NY/St. Francis Prep), who is 5-2 on the year, also came away with a singles title at Toledo’s Rocket  Invitational.
 
On the women’s side, NEC Player of the Month Sanne Louwers (Nuenen, Netherlands/Mgr. Cuytenlaan) won the Flight “A” title at the Navy Invitational, knocking off opponents from Longwood and Towson before beating teammate Marine Dans (Waterloo, Belgium/Institu de Mot Couvreur), 4-6, 7-5, 10-4, in the final. 
 
Sacred Heart junior Katie DeRienzo (Douglaston, NY/St. Francis Prep) posted a 5-1 singles record for the month, highlighted by going 4-0 over two days to win the Flight “A” Singles title at the NJIT Invitational.  She beat Albany’s Ana Glumac, 7-5, 6-4, in the final to capture her second career individual championship.
 
Saint Francis U senior Alex Sachs (Parkland, FL/Stoneman Douglas) won the “B” flight singles championship at the Bucknell Invitational and reached the semis with partner Danielle Gryckiewicz (Calgary, Alberta/Calgary Academy).  She is 3-0 in singles play this fall.
 
NEC Men’s Wrapup:
 
• Bryant senior Zach Morris (Garden City, NY/Garden City) netted a 5-1 record in singles play in October with wins over players from Yale, Harvard, Army (two), and St. Bonaventure.  At the ITA Regionals, Morris took down Army’s Alex Van Veltzer, 6-4, 6-4, in the opening round of the tournament before falling to St. John’s R.J. Del Nunzio, 6-3, 6-3.  Morris is now 12-1 in singles play on the year.  Teammate Matt Kuhar (Smithfield, RI/Smithfield) picked up right where he left off in September.  The freshman picked up a pair of qualifying wins at ITAs over opponents from Cornell and Brown, then beat Binghamton’s Ismael Dinia, 7-6, 6-2, in the first round. He would go on to drop a 6-4, 7-5 decision to Columbia’s Mike Vermeer in round two.  Kuhar is 8-3 in singles play this fall.
 
• Mount St. Mary’s junior Austin Blake (Garnet Valley, PA/Salesianum (DE)) posted a 2-1 singles record and 5-0 doubles mark in October.  He teamed with freshman Brandon Wortkotter (Fort Myers, FL/Lassiter (GA)) to win the “A” flight doubles title at the Mount Invitational.  Blake is Mount’s active leader with 35 career wins.
 
•  Saint Francis U senior Chris Jimenez (Bayside, NY/St. Francis Prep) and senior Sergio Carvajal (Nueva Esparta, Venezuela/U.E. Fray Elias Maria Sendra) have won three of their last four doubles matches.
 
• St. Francis Brooklyn senior Victor Blasco (Barcelona, Spain/IES Sant Just Desvern) finished 4-0 in the fall with singles wins against Hartford, Wagner, Siena and Rider.
 
• Sacred Heart sophomore Matt Dean (Newington, CT/Newington) posted a 3-2 record at the Connecticut Invitational.  He won a main draw match against Hartford, then a pair of consolation matches against opponents from Fairfield and Hartford.
 
NEC Women’s Wrapup:
 
• LIU Brooklyn senior Sanne Louwers (Nuenen, Netherlands/Mgr. Cuytenlaan) and Marine Dans (Waterloo, Belgium/Institu de Mot Couvreur), advanced to the Flight “A” doubles final at the Navy Invitational.  Louwers also added a main draw win at the ITA Regionals, beating Katie DeRienzo from Sacred Heart before falling to last year’s regional champion Kanika Vaidya from Columbia.
 
• Mount St. Mary’s freshman Cassandra Powell (Vienna, WV/Parksburg), the NEC Rookie of the Month, leads the Mount with six singles victories on the year and reached the “C” flight semifinals at the Mount St. Mary’s Invitational.  She has also paired with classmate Sruthi Kamprath (Sinking Spring, PA/Wilson) to post a team-best seven doubles wins.  The Mount won two-of-three matches in October, beating Monmouth and Rider.
 
• Bryant freshman Ashanti Campfield (Stratford, CT/Bunnell) continued her strong fall campaign by winning her lone singles match vs. Hartford and pairing with classmate Linnea Sjoberg (Stockholms län, Sweden) to capture the “A” flight crown at the URI Doubles Invitational with a 6-0 record.
 
• FDU sophomore Shreya Pasricha (New Delhi, India/Amity International School) and junior Gisela Castany (Barcelona, Spain) both played their way into the singles main draw at ITA Regionals with a pair of qualifying victories.  They joined sophomore Ksenija Tihomirova (Riga, Latvia/Riga Secondary School No. 40), who received a bye into the main bracket.
 
• Wagner finished the fall season with a 4-1 record.  Sophomore Sarah Dionisio (East Yaphank, NY/Longwood), junior Marina Rull Valvieso (Barcelona, Spain/IES Antony Cumella (Tarleton State)) and senior Rachel Jurgielewicz (Downington, PA/Downington East) have all compiled 4-1 dual meet records.

Quotable

Wagner men’s tennis coach Danny Kreyman on his team’s performance at the QU Invitational

“I’m really proud of (Michal) Rolski. He has established that he is not just one of the best players in the NEC but also in the region.  Charlton (Boyd) bounced back nicely to win four matches today. Him and Sam (Flaxman) played some of their best doubles of the season today.”

Sacred Heart women’s tennis coach Mike Guastelle on Katie DeRienzo winning the “A” flight title at the NJIT Invitational

“Katie (DeRienzo) was outstanding and battled through four tough matches over two days.  She continues to play at a very high level, and I am extremely proud of her effort this weekend.”

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@bchiilz
Marion and Ryan will be representing Bryant at ITAs this weekend! Time to close out the fall season- LET’S GO DAWGS!!!

@GrymesHillGoons
Finishing the Fall Season... Wagner Seahawks Defeats Fordham Rams 6-1; Wagner Tennis has set new winning streak record for team history