Men's Tennis

Men's Tennis Falls to IC in Empire 8 Semis

ROCHESTER, NY - The 2009 Hartwick men's tennis season came to a close on Saturday in Rochester as the Hawks fell to top-seeded Ithaca 8-1 in the Empire 8 Conference semifinals. The Bombers advance to play defending champion Stevens in tomorrow's championship.

The Hawks end the campaign 8-9 overall. 'Wick's eight wins ties for the most victories in a single season since 1988.

Ithaca took a 2-0 lead with victories in first and second doubles to start the match. The Hawks answered with a third doubles victory from Sean Barr (Scarsdale, NY) and Mike del Rosario (Troy, NY). The Hartwick pair won for the sixth time this season outlasting IC's Andrew Dunnick and Mike Muraco in a tie-breaker 9-8 (7-5) to cut the deficit to 2-1 heading into singles play.

Ithaca's Josh Rifkin (#2 singles) and Taylor Borda (#1 singles) scored straight sets wins to push the Bombers to a 4-1 lead and Jimmy Newton would seal IC's semifinal win with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Matt Whitty (St. Catherines, ON) in third singles.

Daniel Wolk denied Barr his 10th win of the season in fourth singles after Barr had secured the first set, 6-3. Wolk came back in set number two, 6-2, and ended the match in the third set by an identical score of 6-2.

IC's Muraco and Levine earned straight-set wins in fifth and sixth singles to end the day's competition.

Freshmen Marcelo Navarro (San Juan, Puerto Rico) ends his first season with the Hawks with a team-best 11 singles wins. Fellow freshman Peter Dumas (Albany, NY) and Barr each won nine matches in 2009 and freshman Jeff Boyd (West Newbury, MA) won eight matches. Del Rosario and Whitty each took five singles wins in their first seasons in the starting lineup.

Hartwick vs Ithaca 05/02/09
at Rochester, N.Y.
Ithaca 8, Hartwick 1

Singles competition
1. Taylor BORDA (IC) def. Jeff Boyd (HC) 6-4, 6-2
2. Josh RIFKIN (IC) def. Marcelo Navarro (HC) 6-0, 6-1
3. Jimmy NEWTON (IC) def. Matt Whitty (HC) 6-2, 6-2
4. Daniel WOLK (IC) def. Sean Barr (HC) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
5. Mike MURACO (IC) def. Peter Dumas (HC) 6-3, 6-3
6. Dan LEVINE (IC) def. Michael del Rosario (HC) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. Taylor BORDA/Josh RIFKIN (IC) def. Jeff Boyd/Marcelo Navarro (HC) 8-5
2. Jimmy NEWTON/Daniel WOLK (IC) def. Peter Dumas/Matt Whitty (HC) 8-2
3. Sean Barr/Michael del Rosario (HC) def. Andrew DUNNICK/Mike MURACO (IC) 9-8 (7-5)

Team Records:
Hartwick 8-9
Ithaca 16-4
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (2,1,3,4,5,6)