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Freshman Simon Andersson (at right) high-fives his teammates prior to the team's ECC semifinal match. He would earn the decisive fifth point to send the Firebirds back to the ECC Finals.
Freshman Simon Andersson (at right) high-fives his teammates prior to the team's ECC semifinal match. He would earn the decisive fifth point to send the Firebirds back to the ECC Finals.
Posted: Apr 17, 2012

Firebirds Men's Tennis Races Past NYIT; Earns Return Trip to ECC Finals

Box Score

WASHINGTON, DC - The No. 2 seeded University of the District of Columbia men's tennis team defeated No. 3 New York Institute of Technology, 5-0 in East Coast Conference semifinal action at UDC Tennis Courts on Tuesday afternoon. The Firebirds will  now visit top-seeded Queens College for a rematch of last year's ECC Finals on Thursday at a time to be determined.

The Firebirds (16-3) seized control of the match early on when they claimed victories in all three doubles matches - a sharp contrast to the last meeting between these two schools when the Bears earned victories at first and second doubles. From there, District of Columbia won the match with just two singles wins by Miguel Uzcategui (Valencia, Venezuela - Colegio Sagrado Corazon) and Simon Andersson (Ystad, Sweden - Sydskanska Gymnasiet).

Seniors Tomas Gajdusek (Prague, Czech Republic - Gymnazium Nad Stolou) and Bruno Reich (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Colegio Tempo de Aprender), who lost to the very same doubles pair of Dustin Wenchel and Julian Marcon, 8-2 when they met back on April 7th, were not to be outdone this time as they won the first UDC point in convincing fashion, 8-1.

Uzcategui and Carlos Quiroga (Valencia, Venezuela - Maria Montessori) followed with an 8-3 victory over Filip Van Eylen and Eduardo Maurtua at No. 3 doubles, which set the stage for a very exciting No. 1 doubles match. Andersson and Aleksandar Grabovac (Ljubljana, Slovenia - Gimnazija Euro Sola Ljubljana), who also lost their doubles match against NYIT back on April 7th, earned a very exciting 8-6 win a fierce battle against Pedro Peixoto and Vojislav Pecikoza for the third and final doubles point of the afternoon.

Needing just two more points to decide the match, Uzcategui defeated Pecikoza, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 4 singles and Andersson, the reigning ECC rookie of the week, knocked off Marcon, 6-2, 6-3.

The Firebirds make a return trip to the ECC Finals for a rematch of last year's tournament final against top-seeded Queens College. The Knights (17-3) are ranked No. 2 in the region and No. 24 in the nation. They advanced via a 5-0 semifinal win over No. 4 seed Dowling earlier this afternoon.