Men's Tennis

Hawks to Face Top-Seeded Ithaca in Empire 8 Semifinals on Saturday

ONEONTA, NY - Hartwick College men's tennis begins its quest for the program's first Empire 8 Championship on Saturday in Rochester. 'Wick, after finishing the conference season with a 5-3 mark, faces top seed Ithaca College (8-0) at 10 a.m. on the campus of RIT.

A victory over the Bombers would put the Hawks into Sunday's championship match against second-seeded Stevens (7-1) or third-seeded RIT (6-2) where they would get a crack at the title and automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament. Both semifinal matches on Saturday and the championship on Sunday begin at 10 a.m. Inclement weather would move the matches indoors to Mendon Racquet Club beginning at noon.

The Hawks are making their first appearance in the Empire 8 semifinals since 2004 when they fell one game short, 4-3 to RIT. 'Wick's Jeff Boyd (West Newbury, MA), Marcelo Navarro (San Juan, Puerto Rico), and Peter Dumas (Albany, NY) all enter the weekend on winning streaks. Boyd has won three straight matches at the number one singles spot. Navarro has also earned three consecutive wins in the second slot. Dumas has claimed four victories at fifth singles.

Sean Barr (Scarsdale, NY) is 5-5 in his last 10 matches and has nine wins on the season in fourth singles. Matt Whitty (St. Catherines, ON) and Mike del Rosario (Troy, NY) each have five singles victories in the third and sixth spots, respectively.

In the Hawks' only meeting with Ithaca on Apr. 14, the Bombers came away with a 9-0 win despite several close matches. Del Rosario fell in three sets to IC's Andrew Dunnick, 4-6, 6-3, 10-6. Dumas lost 6-4, 6-4 to Dan Levine and Barr dropped a 6-4, 6-3 match to Mike Muraco. Dumas and Whitty fell two games short, 9-7, in second doubles. Boyd, Navarro, and Whitty will have tall tasks in their matches in the first three flights against Ithaca's Taylor Borda, Josh Rifkin, and Jimmy Newton. The Bomber trio enters the weekend with a combined 42 singles wins this season. Rifkin enters the weekend sporting a perfect 18-0 record.

More information on the 2009 Empire 8 Men's Tennis Tournament can be found on the tournament homepage at http://athletics.sjfc.edu/news/2009/4/29/MTEN_0429090056.aspx.

2009 Empire 8 Semifinals
Saturday, May 2, 2009 - 10 a.m.
No. 1 Ithaca College vs. No. 4 Hartwick College
No. 2 Stevens Institute of Technology vs. No. 3 Rochester Inst. of Technology

E8 Championship
Sunday, May 3, 2009 - 10 a.m.

ALL MATCHES WILL BE PLAYED OUTDOORS AT RIT (WEATHER PERMITTING)
IF INCLEMENT WEATHER, MATCHES WILL BE PLAYED AT MENDON RACQUET CLUB