Stony Brook and Adelphi Both Denied Conference Championships
With the college tennis regular season winding down, the NCAA Tournament is on the horizon. For most teams, winning their respective conference championship is a necessary prerequisite for making the NCAA’s. Two Long Island universities were battling for their respective conference championships this past week, as Stony Brook University and Adelphi University looked to make a push to the NCAA Tournament.
After knocking off the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Stony Brook had reached its first America East final since 2009. Waiting for them in the finals was the tournament’s top seed, Binghamton University. Binghamton controlled the match throughout, capturing the first doubles point thanks to victories in second and third doubles. The Bearcats also won flights in first, fourth and six singles to clinch the match, resulting in the rest of the matches not needing finishing. Stony Brook finishes the season at 12-7, making it unrealistic that it will receive an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.
Adelphi defeated Stonehill College 5-2 in its first round matchup of the NE-10 Conference tournament, and landed a matchup with the tournament’s top seed, Merrimack. The Panthers fell behind early as Merrimack captured the doubles point and led 2-1. Adelphi managed to get one victory in doubles from Chiwete Njokanma and Justin Vijungco, but still trailed heading into singles play.
Merrimack proved to be too much as it pulled away in the singles action, winning the first three matches. The first and second singles contests were very closely played, as both went to the full three sets. The Warriors outlasted the Panthers and clinched the match following Miguel Belfort’s 6-0, 6-7, 6-1 victory over Adelphi’s Sebastian Zapata.
Adelphi, ranked number five in the latest East Regional rankings, will now wait and hope to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Binghamton defeats Stony Brook 4-0
Singles
â–ºSid Hazarika (BU) def. Alexandre Felisa (SBU) 6-2, 6-1
â–ºRaphael Termat (SBU) vs. Alex Maisin (BU) 3-6, 1-5 (DNF)
â–ºJose Morales (SBU) vs. Robin Lesage (BU) 6-4, 0-1 (DNF)
â–ºIsmael Dinia (BU) def. Tyler Hoffman (SBU) 6-2, 6-2
â–ºMarcelo Locatelli (SBU) vs. Eliott Hureau (BU) 6-4, 0-6 (DNF)
â–ºFlorian van Kann (BU) def. Brandon Stone (SBU) 6-0, 6-1
Doubles
â–ºMaisin/Nambi (BU) vs. Felisa/Morales (SBU) 4-5 (DNF)
â–ºHureau/Burri (BU) def. Termat/Hoffman (SBU) 8-3
â–ºHazarika/Dinia (BU) def. Locatelli/Degani (SBU) 8-4
Merrimack defeats Adelphi 5-1
Singles
â–ºMatt Pronesti (MER) def. Sander Brenner (ADE) 6-0, 4-6, 6-1
â–ºMiguel Belfort (MER) def. Sebastian Zapata (ADE) 6-0, 6-7, 6-1
â–ºChris Barnhart (MER) def. Ryan Villarruel (ADE) 6-0, 6-0
â–ºChiwete Njokanma (ADE) led Vince Bellino (MER) 6-4, 1-0 (DNF)
â–ºUladzislau Litvinchuk (ADE) vs. James Barnhart (MER) (not played)
â–ºJustin Vijungco (ADE) vs. Nick Majewski (MER) (not played)
Doubles
â–ºPronesti/Barnhart (MER) def. Villarruel/Zapata (ADE) 8-1
â–ºBelfort/Bellino (MER) def. Litvinchuk/Brenner (ADE) 8-2
â–ºNjokanma/Vijunqco (ADE) def. Barnhart/Majewski (MER) 9-7
