GENEVA, N.Y.– The No. 28 ranked Hobart tennis team opened its alumni weekend with two wins this afternoon in Bristol Field House to extend its win streak to 12 straight. The Statesmen topped NYU 5-4 before defeating Bard 9-0 in Liberty League action.
The Statesmen move to 12-3 overall with a 5-0 mark in conference play, while the Violets fall to 2-6 overall. The Raptors fell to 1-6 on the season and 0-6 in the Liberty League.
Match 1 (NYU):
The Statesmen took a 2-1 lead after doubles play, winning in the No. 1 and No. 3 spots over the Violets. Senior Sean Pesin and sophomore Nick Fischer defeated the 8th-ranked doubles team in the region, Alexander Lee and Boren Zheng, 8-4 in the No. 1 spot to move to 10-4 in dual matches this season. Senior Winter Fagerberg and junior Rahul Vallbhajosula extended their win streak to five straight as they defeated Cooper Smith and Zachary Freier 8-2 in the No. 3 spot. The duo is now 8-1 in dual matches this season.
The two sides split singles action, with both Hobart and NYU winning three matches each. First-year Achilleas Kousaridis grabbed the first singles win of the afternoon when he defeated Louis Frowein in a thrilling match in the No. 3 spot. Kousaridis defeated Frowein 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) to move to 11-2 on the season.
Junior Hyat Oyer tied the match at 4-4 after defeating Freier 6-3, 6-1 in the No. 5 spot. Oyer is now 10-4 in dual matches this season. Junior Nick Grosso clinched the match for the Statesmen with his eighth straight win in the No. 6 spot. He defeated Ryan Shayani 6-0, 6-1 to secure the victory for Hobart. Grosso moves to 11-3 on the season with the win.
Match 2 (Bard):
The Statesmen put on a dominant performance against the Raptors, sweeping both doubles and singles action. In doubles play, Steiner and Oyer defeated Thanasis Kostikas and Sam Marcus 8-1 in the No. 1 spot to move to 9-5 on the season.
Grosso and sophomore Jose Martinez Barelles earned their first dual match victory of the season as they defeated George Miahkov and Joas Erasmus 8-0 in the No. 2 spot. Sophomores Aidan Staunton and Tarang Malhotra earned a default win in the No. 3 spot due to Bard's lack of players.
Hobart continued to impress in singles play, winning all six matches over the Raptors. Kousaridis defeated Kostikas 6-1, 6-1 to move to 2-0 in the No. 1 spot and 12-2 overall. Oyer defeated Marcus 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 2 spot to move to 11-4 overall while Vallabhajosula defeated Erasmus 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 3 spot. He is now 2-0 in dual matches this season.
Martinez Barelles defeated Miahkov 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 4 spot for his first dual match win of the season, while Malhotra defeated Heidelberg 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 5 spot for his first singles win of the season. Staunton earned his second default win of the day and is now 1-0 on the season.
UP NEXT:
Hobart will be back in action tomorrow, Sunday April 14, when it hosts Liberty League foe RPI. First serve between the 28th-ranked Statesmen and the 27th-ranked Engineers is set for 2 p.m. in Bristol Field House.
