ITHACA, N.Y.-The Hobart College tennis team defeated Rensselaer 5-2 in a Liberty League semifinal match at Cornell's Reis Tennis Center this afternoon. With the win, the Statesmen are now 15-4 on the year and will face top-seeded Skidmore in tomorrow's championship match.
 
Second seeded Hobart took control of the match with a sweep of doubles play. Seniors Michael Rusk and Danny Kot opened today's contest with an 8-4 win at No. 2. Rusk and Kot are 7-5 as a duo this spring. Junior Harry Nichols and sophomore Jonathan Atwater picked up an 8-2 win in the third spot. It was the second time in three days that they defeated Winston Yu and Sundar Devkottai. Following a 10-match win streak, Atwater and Nichols are a team-best 13-5 in doubles play. Sophomore Jonah Salita and first-year Alan Dubrovsky grinded out a 9-7 victory at No. 1. They are now 8-4 on the year at No. 1 doubles.
 
Dubrovsky gave the Statesmen a 4-0 lead when he extended his winning streak to 11 matches with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Sebastian Castillo-Sanchez at No. 2 singles. It was Dubrovsky second win over Castillo-Sanchez this week. He is now 19-4 on the year including a perfect 8-0 record at No. 2. Dubrovsky's 19 singles wins are the most by a Statesmen since Peter Piné '05 won 20 in the 2003-04 season. Third seeded RPI took No. 1 and No. 6 singles to cut into Hobart's lead. Rusk clinched the match for the Statesmen with a 6-1, 7-6 (7-5) win over Winston Yu at No. 5 singles. Rusk has won his last six matches and is 7-3 on the year.
 
In the other semifinal, Skidmore, which was ranked 25th in the latest Oracle/ITA team Rankings, defeated Vassar 5-0 to earn a spot the championship match. The Thoroughbreds reach the Championship match for the seventh-straight year and are looking for their fourth conference title in a row. 
 
Tomorrow's championship match is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. at the Reis Tennis Center.