Last Saturday, the Binghamton University men’s tennis team traveled to Hartford and continued its April hot streak as it overwhelmed both University of Hartford and Stony Brook University to finish the regular season on a six-game winning streak.
In their first match against Hartford (6-13), the Bearcats (10-13), who now have won eight of their last nine, showed no mercy as they took all three doubles matches to earn the doubles point and each singles match as well. The 7-0 win was Binghamton’s second consecutive shutout.
Binghamton got big wins at the bottom in singles from junior Rafael Rodrigues and sophomore Bastian Bornkessel, who both shut out their opponents, 6-0, 6-0. Sophomore Ruben Devos also provided an impressive 6-1 6-0 victory at No. 4 singles. In total, the Bearcats lost only seven games in six singles matches.
In its next match, it was more of the same as Binghamton dominated Stony Brook (8-10) by trouncing them in each singles match to give them a 6-0 victory. Doubles weren’t played because of inclement weather.
Senior Sven Vloedgraven, who is ranked No. 78 in the ITA national rankings, didn’t play singles in the Hartford match but did post a 6-2, 6-1 win over Stony Brook’s top player. The victory extended Vloedgraven’s consecutive winning streak to 19 and he now boasts a 30-7 overall record.
Senior Arnav Jain took down both of his opponents in singles in straight sets, ousting Hartford’s top player by a final score of 6-3, 6-1 and Stony Brook’s No. 2 player by a final score of 7-5, 6-2. With his win against Stony Brook, Jain improved his record to 25-9 on the season and reached 100 wins for his career. He was named America East Player of the Week for his performances.
Junior Alexandre Haggai also impressed on Saturday, earning both of his single wins and dominating in doubles with partner Rodrigues, 8-0. Against his Hartford opponent, Haggai won 6-1, 6-0 and against his Stony Brook opponent, he won 6-2, 6-1.
Despite a sluggish 0-4 start to the season and a miserable nine-game losing streak in the middle of the season, the Bearcats have gotten it together over the last month of the season. In the month of April, the squad has won all six of its matches, and in all but one of them it’s won by at least five points.
After two weeks of rest and preparation, Binghamton will look to obtain the program’s fourth consecutive America East Conference title. The Bearcats will head to New Haven, Conn. for the America East Championship on Friday. The tournament is set to conclude on Sunday. The conference winner receives an automatic berth into the NCAA championships.