April 3, 2008

Stony Brook, N.Y. - Stony Brook's men's tennis team played some impressive singles tennis today in its first home match of the spring season as it took on Fairleigh Dickinson. The Seawolves won five of the six singles matches in straight sets against the Knights to take a 6-1 decision, with sophomore Ilan Shvartz (Haifa, Israel) dropping just one game on his way to a victory at the No. 4 position.

Stony Brook got out on top early by taking the doubles point. Freshman Ivan Rummel (Budapest, Hungary) and sophomore Jon Epstein (Silver Spring, Md.) picked up the first win of the day for the Seawolves with an 8-2 win at No. 3 doubles. Freshmen Artem Baradach (Minsk, Belarus) and sophomore Alex Markovich (Brooklyn, N.Y.) then clinched the point for SBU, taking a hard-fought 8-6 decision at the No. 1 slot.

Stony Brook had the outcome of the match decided early on in singles play, winning flights 3-6 in straight sets. The Seawolves were dominant in those matches, dropping no more than five games total in any of the contests. Shvartz took a 6-0, 6-1 win in his match while Rummel lost just two games on his way to a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 3 over Josh Girling. Epstein and Markovich were impressive in the Nos. 5 & 6 matches as well, with Epstein taking a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 5 and Markovich coming out on top by a 6-2, 6-3 score at No. 6 over Esteban Blanco.

Baradach was also victorious for Stony Brook, slugging out a 7-5, 7-6 win over Phil Stephens at No. 1 singles. Junior Youssef Fassi-Fehri (Fes, Morocco) came close to making it a sweep for the Seawolves, but fell in a close three-set contest at No. 2 to Matt Gordon, 6-4, 4-6, 10-8.

Stony Brook will return to action next week when it travels to Hofstra to take on the Pride on Wednesday, April 9 at 2:30 p.m.

Stony Brook 6, Fairleigh Dickinson 1

Doubles

1. Baradach/Markovich (SB) def. Stephens/Blanco; 8-6

2. Gordon/Girling (FD) def. Fassi-Fehri/Shvartz; 8-4

3. Rummel/Epstein (SB) def. Gross/Eddins; 8-2

Singles

1. Artem Baradach (SB) def. Phil Stephens; 7-5, 7-6

2. Matt Gordon (FD) def. Youssef Fassi-Fehri; 6-4, 4-6, 10-8

3. Ivan Rummel (SB) def. Josh Girling; 6-1, 6-1

4. Ilan Shvartz (SB) def. Prit Gross; 6-0, 6-1

5. Jon Epstein (SB) def. Kyle Eddins; 6-1, 6-2

6. Alex Markovich (SB) def. Esteban Blanco; 6-2, 6-3