District of Columbia Wins Close Contest Over NYIT, 5-4
OLD WESTBURY, NY - The University of the District of Columbia men's tennis team traveled to play New York Institute of Technology, where they defeated the Bears, ranked No. 4 in the region, by a slim margin, 5-4. This is the second time in as many days that the Firebirds (ranked No. 3 in the region) have defeated an opponent ranked in the top five in the region, as they beat No. 2 Queens College yesterday. With the win today, the Firebirds improved to 8-2 on the season and 4-0 in East Coast Conference play.
The Bears opened the day with a win at the No. 3 doubles match. Junior Carlos Quiroga (Electrical Engineering – Valencia, Venezuela/Maria Montessori) and freshman Simon Bratke (Undecided – Bonn, Germany/Collegium Josephinum Bonn) fell to Jaime Salvador and Eduardo Maurtua, 8-2. The Firebirds received their first win of the day by junior Miguel Uzcategui (Electrical Engineering – Valencia, Venezuela/Colegio Sagrado Corazon) and junior Ike Kiro (Undecided – Milnerton Ridge, South Africa/Milnerton HS) defeating doubles partners Tomas Lieb and Julian Marcon of NYIT, 8-2. Senior Aleksandar Grabovac (Psychology – Ljubljana, Slovenia/Gimnazija Euro Sola Ljubljana) and sophomore Simon Andersson (Business Management – Ystad, Sweden/Sydskanska Gymnasiet) then followed up with a close win over Mircea Dimofte and Nicolas Jubera 9-8(3).
The Bears evened up the overall score at two matches apiece as Jubera defeated Bratke 6-0, 6-0. Next, Uzcategui eased past Filip Van Eylen by a score of 6-2, 6-1. NYIT then grabbed another win at the No. 1 singles match as Grabovac fell to Lieb 6-4, 6-1. In the No. 2 singles match, Kiro posted a convincing 6-3, 6-2 win over Dimofte. Next, Andersson fell to Salvador of NYIT 6-3, 6-3.
After a day that went back and forth between the Firebirds and the Bears, the teams were tied 4-4 going into the final singles match. Quiroga battled Pedro Peixoto in an extremely close match where the first two sets were split between the two opponents. However, Quiroga ultimately won the final set and came out on top by a score of 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-4 to secure the victory for the Firebirds.
District of Columbia will be back in action at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, April 14 as they host Concordia (NY).
UDC – 5, New York Institute of Technology – 4
Doubles
1. Grabovac/Andersson def. Dimofte/Jubera (NYIT) 9-8(3)
2. Uzcategui/Kiro def. Lieb/Marcon (NYIT) 8-2
3. Salvador/Maurtua (NYIT) def. Quiroga/Bratke 8-2
Singles
1. Tomas Lieb (NYIT) def. Aleksandar Grabovac 6-4, 6-1
2. Ike Kiro def. Mircea Dimofte (NYIT) 6-3, 6-2
3. Miguel Uzcategui def. Filip Van Eylen (NYIT) 6-2, 6-1
4. Jaime Salvador (NYIT) def. Simon Andersson 6-3, 6-3
5. Carlos Quiroga def. Pedro Peixoto (NYIT) 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-4
6. Nicolas Jubera (NYIT) def. Simon Bratke 6-0, 6-0
UDC - 5
NYIT - 4
Order of Completion
Doubles: 3, 2, 1
Singles: 6, 3, 1, 2, 4, 5
Season Record (W-L): 8 - 2, ECC: 4 - 0