5/5/2008
Clippers Travel to Stonehill for NCAA Tournament
Bronxville, NY - The Concordia College men's tennis team will travel to Stonehill College in Easton, MA for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championships, which begin on Thursday, May 8th. The Skyhawks will host the Clippers, the Rams of Philadelphia University and ECC foe, the Queens College Knights in the four team bracket on Thursday and concluding on Friday, May 9th.
The Clippers earned their way into the NCAA Tournament with a 5-1 victory over Queens College in the East Coast Conference Championship match, thus giving Concordia an automatic bid. The top seeded Clippers are currently ranked 12th in the nation in Division II men's tennis and are riding a 12-match winning streak heading into the NCAA Tournament. Concordia is 16-2 overall this season. Sophomore Alex Grubin (Belgrade, Serbia) is the #1 ranked player in Division II men's tennis and boasts a 17-1 marks at #1 singles on the season. Senior Rodrigo Teixeira (Vitoria, Brazil) is currently ranked 3rd in the East Region in singles play. Teixeira holds an 18-1 record in singles matches and an 18-3 record in doubles matches. Senior Kirill Azovtsev (St. Petersburg, Russia) has also been impressive for the Clippers this season, going 16-1 this season in singles play and 16-3 in doubles competition.
The host Skyhawks of Stonehill College come into the NCAA Tournament on the heels of a 5-0 loss to Bryant University in the finals of the Northeast-10 Tournament. Stonehill will be the #4 seed in the East Region of the Tournament. The Skyhawks are 18-6 overall and went 9-1 in conference play. Stonehill is led by junior Jason Allegretti, who holds a 16-5 record in singles matches. Junior William Herchel is equally impressive with a 16-6 singles match record. Together they have teamed up for a 12-6 doubles record.
The Knights of Queens College will be the #5 seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament. The Knights finished the season with an 11-6 overall record and went 4-1 in East Coast Conference play. Queens has won 8 out of their last 10 matches heading into the NCAA Tournament. The Knights are led by a trio of freshmen, Fabio Minami, Marcelo Kim and Dave Burstein, along with senior Ariel Nassim.
The Rams enter the NCAA Tournament as the #8 seed in the East Region. The Rams have won 10 of their last 12 contests and sport a 15-8 overall record. Freshman Tom McAvoy and Seppi Hutter lead Philadelphia in singles play with a 14-6 record and an 11-3 record, respectively. Senior Anders Novesky and freshman Kyle Kaltenbacher team up for a formidable pair in doubles matches. The pair went 11-5 in doubles matches this season, all at the #1 position.
NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Tournament - First and Second Rounds
Stonehill Courts, Stonehill College, Easton, MA
Thursday, May 8th
Concordia College vs. Philadelphia University, 11:00 AM
Queens College vs. Stonehill College, 2:00 PM
Friday, May 9th
Winner Concordia/Philadelphia vs. Winner Queens/Stonehill, 11:00 AM
