HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 5, 2008) – Playing in his first match since suffering an injury in late-February, freshman Arik Zeevy returned in style with a pair of victories as the Stevens Institute of Technology men’s tennis team won its fourth-straight match with a 9-0 victory over Utica College on Saturday in Hoboken, N.J. The Ducks, who have won five of their last six matches, are now 7-5 overall and 3-0 in the Empire 8. The Pioneers fell to 0-2 on the season and 0-2 in conference play with the loss.
Paired up as a doubles team for the first time this year, senior Ricky Bawa and Zeevy posted an 8-2 win in the first flight over junior Khoa Vo (Utica, N.Y.) and freshman Ben Tigges. At No. 2 doubles, freshmen Zhi Wei Ko and Jay Lee improved to 8-0 with an 8-1 win over juniors Paul Alexander (Stittville, N.Y.) and Mike Zielenski (Marcy, N.Y.). Sophomore Piotr Rusinkiewicz and freshman Jason Ringstad added an 8-0 victory against freshmen Thomas Armitage and Shaun Kaleta in the third-doubles match.
Ko led off singles with a 6-2, 6-1 win against Zielenski in the first flight. The victory was his ninth of the year. Zeevy was a straight-sets winner (6-0, 6-3) over Tigges at No. 2 singles. Bawa dropped a total of one game (6-0, 6-1) versus Vo at third singles en route to winning his seventh match in a row. Rusinkiewicz rolled to a 6-0, 6-2 win over Alexander at No. 4 singles. Ringstad, who has now won four matches in a row just like Rusinkiewicz, posted a 6-2, 6-1 victory against Kaleta at fifth singles. At No. 6 singles, Lee earned a shutout victory (6-0, 6-0) against junior Robert Russell (New Hyde Park, N.Y.). Lee is currently tied with Ko for second place on the team with nine singles victories.
Stevens is scheduled to be right back in action on Sunday with a home match against Hartwick College. That contest will begin at noon.
