Like a human wrecking ball, Binghamton University’s men’s tennis junior Sven Vloedgraven smashed through an incredibly talented field of 128 of the best college tennis players in the Northeast to claim the singles title at the ITA Northeast Regional at Dartmouth College on Tuesday. Vloedgraven won six matches in a row on his way to winning the prestigious tournament, culminating in a 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 victory over Yale University’s Marc Powers in the championship match.
Down but certainly not out after dropping a close first set in the final, he displayed the poise and determination of a champion as he fought his way back into contention.
“In the first set, Sven got overruled on one call that I thought was a bad overrule by the umpire,” said head coach Adam Cohen. “Instead of it being 40-15, it became 30-30 and that overrule was the one break the kid needed to break Sven and win the game.” That one break proved to be the difference, as Powers took the set 6-4.
After Vloedgraven broke Powers early in the second set to go up 3-0, Powers began complaining of a pain in his wrist. Taking advantage of a golden opportunity, Vloedgraven steamrolled his way through the rest of the match, where he only dropped two games total in the final two sets.
“His game plan was pretty much the same from the beginning to the end of the match,” said Cohen. “He played extremely well the last two sets regardless of the other guy’s wrist injury. Sven was more consistent with his serve and was just more solid down the stretch.”
No BU player had ever advanced beyond the round of 16 at the ITA Northeast Regional. Winning the entire tournament was a huge accomplishment both for Vloedgraven individually and also for the tennis program as a whole.
“To have a guy win this is a big deal,” said Cohen. “It’s the biggest event of the fall for any program, so I think it’s telling our guys that we certainly belong with these teams in this part of the country and that we can continue to try to separate ourselves from them as well.”
The Ivy League schools are traditionally regarded as the most dominant in tennis throughout the Northeast. Cohen stated how it was fitting for the Bearcats that a player from Binghamton, often regarded as the Ivy of the SUNY system, would defeat players from Brown University, Harvard University, Cornell University and Yale in order to take home the gold. Vloedgraven is also an honors accounting student and the reigning America East Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
With this win, Vloedgraven has earned a bid into the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships to be held on Nov. 5 at Yale. This 32-man tournament comprises the most elite players in the country and should be a stage for Vloedgraven to get some national recognition.
“The field will be the best tournament Sven has played in since he’s been here in college,” said Cohen. “He should go in there with a lot of confidence and I just hope that he plays like he did a few days ago at Dartmouth. Based on his results this fall and depending how it goes the next few weeks, I’m hopeful that he will be placed in the national rankings once they are released in January.”
Up next on the Bearcats’ schedule is the Cornell Fall Indoor Invitational to begin Oct. 30 and go through Nov. 1.