GENEVA, N.Y.—Hobart senior Peter Piné (Princeton/Princeton, N.J.) broke the Statesmen career record for singles wins and in the process lifted the tennis team to a 4-3 victory over visiting Rochester Institute of Technology at the HWS Tennis Center this afternoon. Piné improved to 76-23 over the past four seasons of singles play at Hobart.

The all-time wins leader faced a stiff challenge at first singles, a point that decided the overall match. Piné squared off with senior David Chachu (Mfantsipim School/Kumasi, Ghana), the 14th-ranked singles player in the latest ITA Northeast rankings. After dropping the first set 6-4, Piné rallied for a 6-4 win of his own to even the match and then turned it up a notch, breaking Chachu’s serve three times en route to a 6-1 third set win.

Hobart Hall of Famer Adam Schapiro ’96 established the previous high-water mark for the Statesmen , winning 75 matches against just four defeats.

Piné and sophomore Matt Silver (Weston/Weston, Conn.) at first doubles and first-year Nick Raho (Wheeler School/Providence, R.I.) and junior Matt Jacobus (S. Burlington/S. Burlington, Vt.) at third doubles posted identical 8-6 wins to give Hobart the doubles point. Silver and Raho also won in straight sets at second and sixth singles, respectively.

The loss snaps RIT's eight-match winning steak and drops the Tigers to 8-2 overall.

The Statesmen are back in action April 23-24, in Canton, N.Y., as Hobart will try to defend its 2004 Liberty League Championship.