April 12, 2008

Vestal, N.Y. - It was a tough day on the courts for Stony Brook's men's and women's tennis teams where both squads came up just short in America East matches against UMBC by the same 4-3 score. In the men's match freshmen Artem Baradach (Minsk, Belarus) won at No. 1 singles while for the women senior Victoria Vovsha (Forest Hills, N.Y.) won a pair of matches for the Seawolves.

UMBC swept all three of the doubles matches to start off the men's match to take the first point. Down one, Stony Brook stormed back in singles play, taking the top three flights in straight sets. Baradach won his second straight match for SBU with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Chris Meyer. Sophomore Ilan Shvartz (Haifa, Israel) was nearly perfect at the No. 3 position with his 6-1, 6-0 victory over Irfan Shamasdin. Freshman Ivan Rummel (Budapest, Hungary) was also strong for the Seawolves, taking a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 2.

But that would be all the scoring that Stony Brook could come up with in the contest. UMBC won all three matches at Nos. 4-6, giving the Retrievers enough points to come up with the team victory.

On the women's side nearly every match was closely contested, with four of the six singles contests going to three sets before a victor was decided. It was Stony Brook that won the first point of the day, sweeping through all three doubles matches. Senior Sandy Wijeratne (Melbourne, Australia) and sophomore Paola Rodolfi (Asuncion, Paraguay) picked up the first win of the day for SBU with an 8-4 win at No. 2 doubles. Junior Erica Federgreen (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and sophomore Claudia Sanua (Bryanston, South Africa) then clinched the point for the Seawolves with an 8-6 win at No. 1 doubles.

Sanua and Vovsha both came back to win singles matches after their opponents had won the second set to even things up. Playing at No. 2, Sanua defeated Alice Chen 6-0, 2-6, 6-4, while Vovsha scored her win at No. 6 with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 triumph over Emily Mannix.

Two other three set affairs did not go Stony Brook's way, however, enough to put the team win in the UMBC column. Radolfi came back after dropping the first set of her No. 1 match to win the second, but fell to Ana Mungo 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. Federgreen also fell in three in her No. 5 match, dropping a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 decision to Joy Adewumi.

MEN

UMBC 4, Stony Brook 3

Doubles

1. Jackson/Shamasdin (UMBC) def. Baradach/Markovich; 8-4

2. Ferreira/Savage-Pollock (UMBC) def. Epstein/Rummel; 8-3

3. Meyer/Voorman (UMBC) def. Shvartz/Baldoch; 8-4

Singles

1. Artem Baradach (SB) def. Chris Meyer; 6-4, 6-1

2. Ivan Rummel (SB) def. Nicolas Savage-Pollock; 6-4, 6-4

3. Ilan Shvartz (SB) def. Irfan Shamasdin; 6-1, 6-0

4. David Jackson (UMBC) def. Jon Epstein; 6-2, 6-2

5. Fredi Voorman (UMBC) def. Alex Markovich; 6-0, 6-4

6. Fernando Ferreira (UMBC) def. Patrick Baldoch; 6-0, 6-2

WOMEN

UMBC 4, Stony Brook 3

Doubles

1. Sanua/Federgreen (SB) def. Cette/Chen; 8-6

2. Rodolfi/Wijeratne (SB) def. Mungo/Mannix; 8-4

3. Charliquart/Vovsha (SB) def. Adewumi/Carapcea; 9-7

Singles

1. Ana Mungo (UMBC) def. Paloa Rodolfi; 6-3, 2-6, 6-4

2. Claudia Sanua (SB) def. Alice Chen; 6-0, 2-6, 6-4

3. Pascaline Cette (UMBC) def. Sandy Wijeratne; 6-4, 6-1

4. Cornelia Carapcea (UMBC) def. Fanny Charliquart; 6-4, 7-6 (5)

5. Joy Adewumi (UMBC) def. Erica Federgreen; 2-6, 6-4, 6-2

6. Victoria Vovsha (SB) def. Emily Mannix; 6-4, 4-6, 6-4