No. 3 Seeded Firebirds Bow Out with 5-1 Semifinal Loss to No. 2 Queens

FLUSHING, NY – The University of the District of Columbia men's tennis team was defeated, 5-1 by tournament host and No. 2 seed Queens College in East Coast Conference Tournament semifinal action Friday afternoon.

The No. 3 seeded Firebirds, a team that earned a 3-2 regular season conference record and No. 9 East Region ranking with a six-man roster made up entirely of sophomores, had its 2016 season come to a close with an overall record of 5-9. Queens, ranked No. 4 in the region, improved to 12-6 overall and advances to the finals to play top-seed NYIT on Saturday.

The Knights set the tone early with doubles wins at No. 3 and No. 1, both by identical scores of 8-1. UDC's Rok Bozic and Diego Pinto were able to stave off a Queens doubles sweep though by pulling off an exhilarating, 9-7 win at No. 2.

The momentum from Bozic and Pinto's win did not carry over into singles play, however, as Pinto was forced to retire halfway through his first set vs. Sharvill Nawghre at No. 1. Next, Ander Murillo was bested by Roman Laga, 6-3, 6-0 at No. 4, and Noppawat Satprertpry went down, 6-1, 6-0 to Luca Martinez at No. 5.

With five points scored by Queens and the match victory secured, all other singles matches were halted.