On September 18 and 19, the Stevens Men’s Tennis team competed in the MAC Individual Championship in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and claimed 10 of the 11 available titles. This remarkable outcome at the two-day tournament marked Stevens’ second time attending the event. Since the 2019-2020 season, the team has managed to win 21 of the 22 men’s tennis individual titles. Maintaining this track record has the team off to a fantastic start in their Fall 2021 season.
In Singles, the score consists of two sets. A third super tie-break is added if the result of the first two sets is (1-1). In Doubles, the first team to eight games wins the match.
Competing in the Singles tournament, ranked from No. 1 to No. 6, were Vivek Harinarayan (6-3, 6-4), Matthew Luzzi (6-0, 6-1), Sebastian Wroe (6-2, 7-5), Andrew He (6-1, 6-2), Olof Persson (7-6 (7-1), 6-0), Eloi Pradier (3-6, 6-2, 8-10), and Brian Li (7-6 (10-8), 2-6, 10-6). In the Doubles tournament, ranked from No. 1 to No. 4 were Keegan Morris and Marc Feliu (8-4), Aashi Kulakarni and Olof Persson (8-1), Sebastian Wroe and Troy Zhang (8-2), and Mark Pabalan and Eloi Pradier (8-0). All of the Stevens players advanced to their semi-final rounds.
According to player and senior Brian Li, his favorite part about the MAC tournament was “the opportunity to spend a lot of time with the team. Since COVID, this was our second team trip and we have a lot of new first years on our team. The opportunity to bond as a team and come together and play as well as we did was an incredible experience.” He related the team’s success to the team leadership by both current seniors and Coach Steve Gachko. Li stated that the team mentality “has always been about going out and playing disciplined and focused regardless of who we are playing. We emphasized throughout the week that pressure is a privilege and as a team we love those high pressure points.”
On September 25 and 26, the team competed at the TCNJ Invitational in Ewing, New Jersey. Out of 24 matches against TCNJ, Vassar College, and NYU, the team won 16 matches. This feat highlighted the incredible skills of the players as both individuals and as doubles partners.
Competing in the Singles tournament on Day 1 were Keegan Morris (6-3, 6-2), Marc Feliu (0-6, 6-0, 10-8), Vivek Harinarayan (6-3, 6-1), Aashi Kulakarni (6-2, 7-5), Matt Luzzi (6-4, 6-4), Troy Zhang (6-4, 6-3), Andrew He (1-6, 6-4, 16-14), Eloi Pradier (8-4), and Mark Pabalan (2-6). In the Doubles tournament on the same day were Marc Feliu and Keegan Morris (7-8, 5-7), Aashi Kulakarni and Sebastian Wroe (8-6), Matt Luzzi and Troy Zhang (4-8), and Andrew He and Olof Persson (8-1).
On Day 2, the singles competition included Keegan Morris (3-0, retired), Marc Feliu (2-6, 6-4, 10-8), Vivek Harinarayan (3-6, 6-1, 7-10), Aashi Kulakarni (6-4, 6-4), Matt Luzzi (4-6, 3-6), Sebastian Wroe (6-3, 3-6, 14-12), and Troy Zhang (2-6, 3-6). In the Doubles tournament were Marc Feliu and Keegan Morris (8-5), Aashi Kulakarni and Sebastian Wroe (5-8), Matt Luzzi and Troy Zhang (3-8), and Andrew He and Olof Persson (8-6).
Freshman Sebastian Wroe was the final player to wrap up the Invitational on Saturday. His winning match at the end of the second day brought home the winning streak for Stevens. When asked about his achievement, he said, “Honestly, it was half relief that the match was over because my leg started cramping in the [super tiebreak] 8-9. But when I finally won that last point, I was so happy.” Wroe’s accomplishment tied up the successful tournament weekends for the Stevens Men’s Tennis team.
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