June 28, 2009

Stony Brook, N.Y. - After completing one of its most successful seasons since it joined the America East Conference, the Stony Brook University men's tennis team has received recognition on both the athletic and academic fronts for its standout 2008-09 season.

On the courts Stony Brook earned the No. 1 seed at the America East Championships and played in the championship match for the seventh time in eight years, winding up the year with a 17-5 overall record that gave the Seawolves their most wins in five years. Stony Brook was impressive enough to finish ranked No. 11 in the final ITA Northeast Region rankings, the highest finish ever by a Stony Brook team. Individually sophomore Ivan Rummel (Budapest, Hungary) finished with a 20-10 singles record and was ranked No. 20 in the region to finish the season.

In the classroom the Seawolves also had an outstanding season. As a team Stony Brook compiled a 3.51 GPA which was the highest mark among men's teams from all sports in the America East Conference. Four Seawolves, senior Youssef Fassi-Fehri (Fes, Morocco), juniors Jon Epstein (Silver Spring, Md.) and Ilan Shvartz (Haifa, Israel), and Rummel had all been selected to the America East All-Academic team for men's tennis earlier this year, the most selections from any team in the league.