The UR men’s tennis team traveled to Vassar College this weekend to play in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regional Championships. Teams from 19 schools in the Northeast competed in singles and doubles competitions, with a chance to go to the ITA National Championships later this month. UR entered four singles players and two doubles teams into the tournament. For the second straight year, the ‘Jackets had a doubles team make it to the championship game.
After a win at the St. Lawrence University Fall Men’s Tennis Classic, sophomore Brian Bowman and freshman Ryan Kovaleski placed second in the tournament’s doubles bracket. This performance followed the 2006 ITA doubles win by former team members and seniors Thanos Kantarelis and Eric Hansen.
Bowman and Kovaleski started out by winning 8-5 against teams from Ithaca College and St. Lawrence University in the first two rounds. In the quarterfinals, they faced Trey Minter and Vikram Ravikumar of Union College, advancing 8-6. They once again cruised 8-5 over opponents from Stevens Institute of Technology, placing them into the final game and bringing their winning streak to nine consecutive matches. Vassar College’s Max Willner and Greg Katz, who were both ranked in singles play, proved to be too strong, winning 8-5 to take home the doubles title.
Head coach Anna Tozin hopes that Bowman and Kovaleski can build off of their early success.
“Brian and Ryan make a tough doubles team, possessing different game styles that provide for a team with both power and consistency,” Tozin said. The duo has won 10 of the 12 matches they have played together in doubles competition this season.
Bowman reached the round of 16 in the singles bracket before falling in straight sets to Jeremy Eckardt of The College of New Jersey, 6-3, 6-1. Eckardt was listed among the 9-16 seeds in the 64-man singles field. Bowman started out hot in the bracket, defeating Piotr Rushinkiewiz of Stevens Tech, 6-3, 6-3 in the first round. He then took care of fourth-ranked Mike Mattelson of the host, Vassar College, 7-6, (8-6), 6-4, before falling to Eckardt.
Freshman Patrick Sheehan came out strong, defeating Han Chong of Rochester Institute of Technology, 6-2, 6-0. He could not get past 5-8 seed and eventual tournament runner-up Eric Ferriere of TCNJ, 6-2, 6-3.
Kovaleski lost his opening round match to Calvin Chou of New York University, 6-4, 6-3. Chou was listed as a 5-8 seed. The loss meant that Kovaleski continued play in the consolation bracket, where he defeated Hugo Robinson of Manhattanville College, 8-5. Kovaleski could not make it to the quarterfinals, losing 8-3 to Alex Stoler of Ithaca College.
Freshman Bennett Peterson failed to win either of his two singles matches. He lost to T.J. David of Skidmore College, 7-6 (5, 6-3). Peterson then went into the consolation bracket, losing to 9-16 seed and semi-finalist of the consolation competition Taylor Borda of Ithaca, 8-6.
Peterson and Sheehan teamed up as the team’s second doubles entry. They fell 8-5 in the first round to Charlie Davis and Harry King of Hobart College and did not fare much better in the consolation bracket. They lost 9-7 to Jared Friedberg and Peter Erwin of Hamilton College.
The next opponent for the ‘Jackets will be rivals St. John Fisher at home on Thursday, Oct. 4.
Wasserman is a member of the class of 2010.
