Ringstad Helps Men's Tennis Move One Step Closer to Securing Empire 8 Regular-Season Title
ELMIRA, N.Y. (April 13, 2008) – Freshman Jason Ringstad did not drop a game in singles or doubles action in leading the Stevens Institute of Technology men’s tennis team to its eighth-straight win with an 8-1 victory over Elmira College on Sunday in Elmira, N.Y. The Ducks are now 11-5 on the year and 6-0 in the Empire 8. The Soaring Eagles fell to 0-7 overall and 0-7 in the conference with the loss.
At first doubles, senior Ricky Bawa and sophomore Piotr Rusinkiewicz won their fourth match in a row as they defeated sophomore Michael Lesslie (Seneca Falls, N.Y.) and freshman Gabriel Cortes (Miami, Fla.) by the score of 8-3. Freshmen Zhi Wei Ko and Jay Lee ran their record to 10-1 this season with an 8-2 victory over senior Chandler Paradis (South Windsor, Conn.) and freshman Ryan Patterson (Brattleboro, Vt.) at No. 2 doubles. In the third-doubles match, freshman Arik Zeevy and Ringstad rolled to an 8-0 win over freshmen Koji Shimogama (Tokyo, Japan) and Timothy Wagner (Corinth, N.Y.).
Cortes picked up the lone victory for Elmira as he topped Ko 6-0, 6-2 at first singles. The Ducks won the five remaining singles matches and dropped a total of three games in the process. Zeevy won for the fifth time in a row without losing a game to Patterson at No. 2 singles. Bawa blanked Lesslie at third singles for his 11th-straight win. Rusinkiewicz was a straight-sets winner (6-1, 6-2) versus Paradis at fourth singles. He has now won eight consecutive matches. Ringstad and Lee each recorded 6-0, 6-0 wins in their matches at fifth and sixth singles, respectively. Ringstad beat Shimogama. Lee, who has won eight matches in a row, took down freshman Sem Raj Tamang (Kathmandu, Nepaul).
At 6-0 in the Empire 8, Stevens has two conference matches remaining. With one more victory, the Ducks will secure the top seed for the four-team postseason tournament, which will be held April 26 and 27 in Rochester, N.Y. Stevens will return to the courts on Wednesday when it hosts New York University at 3:30 p.m.
