Coming off of a 4-3 victory against Brown University last Saturday, Binghamton University’s men’s tennis (8-3) continued their fine play, picking up victories against Duquesne (4-5) and Princeton (5-5) on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
Friday’s 7-0 victory was the second shutout of the season for the young Bearcats squad. They were dominant in their performance, winning all six singles matches in straight sets. The loss was the Devils’ second of the day after falling to Cornell earlier on Friday. The Atlantic 10 hopefuls have now lost five of their last six matches.
Atlantic 10 all-conference member, junior Jeremy McClelland, lost his singles match, falling to Binghamton sophomore Sven Vloedgraven, 6-2, 7-5. McClelland’s singles season record now stands at 3-8, a drastic drop-off from last year’s 22-10 record. McClelland did pick up a victory at first singles with teammate Zachary Skorupka, but it was a case of too little, too late. Duquesne’s other all-conference member, senior Alex Mast, did not play in the weekend’s match.
Binghamton freshman Gilbert Wong continued his excellent play, winning 7-5, 6-2 at fourth singles and 8-4 in second doubles with Vloedgraven.
The Dukes’ next matchup will be against the America East’s UMBC on March 13.
Sunday’s 5-2 victory adds to the Bearcats’ already impressive season.
The victory ends the Princeton Tigers’ four-match win streak and extends the Bearcats’ streak to a season-high three matches. Binghamton will end their season at 3-2 against Ivy League opponents, a noticeable improvement from last year’s 1-4 mark.
As a team, the Bearcats secured victories at all spots except for first and third singles, where Princeton’s Peter Capkovic and Alex Vuckovic won, respectively. Capkovic is the 100th ranked collegiate player, and his resume includes victories against Radek Stepanek (currently top 20 in the world), Vladimir Voltchkov (former Wimbledon semifinalist) and Iraki Labadze (top 200).
Wong’s great play carried over to Sunday when he raised his record to a team-best 23-6. At doubles, Wong and Vloedgraven continued to rack up wins. The two are now 6-4 when they play together.
Moshe Levy continues to have an outstanding junior season, picking up wins at singles on Friday and at doubles Sunday. Levy is now 16-10 on the season.
“He has had a good season at the top spot, which is no easy task,” said Bearcats head coach Adam Cohen. “He has already had a pair of impressive victories, and this is well-deserved recognition.”
Sunday’s match marked the halfway point for the Bearcats’ regular season. Binghamton next plays Saturday, March 21, when they travel to UMBC to take on the Retrievers.