The greatest season in the history of the Binghamton University men’s tennis team came to an end in the first round of the NCAA tournament on May 15. No. 24 Georgia Tech ousted the No. 47 America East champion Bearcats 4-1 at the University of Kentucky’s Boone Tennis Complex. Meanwhile, Sven Vloedgraven’s groundbreaking foray into the singles tournament came to an end in the first round.
Junior Arnav Jain notched Binghamton’s first ever singles point in the NCAA tournament at fifth singles. After edging Magin Ortiga 7-6(5) in the first set, Jain cruised in the second set, winning it 6-0 to secure the victory. Jain ended the season with a perfect 24-0 mark in duals. It’s just the second perfect dual season in the program’s history; Greg Munoz accomplished the feat in Division III during the 1988-89 season. Jain’s 35-3 overall record was the best on the team.
Senior Moshe Levy and sophomore Alexandre Haggai won their doubles match 8-2, besting Eliot Potvin and Ryan Smith, the 52nd-ranked duo in the nation. However, Georgia Tech won the other two matches to earn the doubles point. Junior Sven Vloedgraven and sophomore Gilbert Wong lost in first doubles to the 70th-ranked pair in the nation, Kevin King and Juan Spir.
Head coach Adam Cohen was very pleased with the performance of Levy and Haggai in a resounding win over a high quality pairing.
‘I think our guys played a fantastic match,’ Cohen said. ‘Alex served very well that match, both of them returned great, moved well, they were very active and aggressive around the net. I think those guys perhaps played one of the better sets of doubles that whole spring season in that match; [Potvin and Smith] are a respectable team. To beat that team 8-2 that convincingly and that quickly was a testament to how well they were playing that day.’
The team score doesn’t accurately reflect the competitiveness of the dual, as the Bearcats were leading in the two incomplete matches. Vloedgraven, ranked No. 123 in the nation and No. 1 in the Northeast, garnered respect on a national stage, taking the first set from No. 4 Guillermo Gomez 6-4. Vloedgraven was down 1-4 in the second set before the match came to an end. Sophomore Alexandre Haggai took the first set from Potvin, ranked No. 112, 7-6 (13) before that match ended early.
Penalty calls at the start of three matches put the Bearcats at a disadvantage as they tried to pull off the upset over the Yellow Jackets.
‘Georgia Tech is a great team, I don’t want to take anything away from them,’ Cohen said. ‘The thing that was unfortunate in our match was we had a referee that gave us a point penalty in three of the matches, at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4, and that was the first time that happened all year. It was a little unfortunate to start out three matches down 1-0 with the opponent serving.’
Cohen insists the penalties weren’t the reason the Bearcats lost the dual, but does feel things may have played out slightly differently had those calls not been made.
‘That’s not why we won or lost,’ he said. ‘But at No. 2 Moshe Levy was down 4-0, won five straight games, and had he not been down 1-0 to begin with, he clearly would’ve been up 5-3 and serving for the set at one point. We could’ve won five first sets had things gone our way.’
It was Levy’s final dual as a Bearcat. He lost to No. 85 King in second singles, but did go out a winner in doubles. The 27-year-old finished the season with a 16-4 dual record. He ends his collegiate career with a 62-39 singles record and a 47-49 doubles record.
‘Moshe’s been a great leader for us,’ Cohen said. ‘He’s been the captain the last two years. I think playing-wise he certainly would have liked to have had more time; he had some times where he had some injuries that cost him from playing a lot for us during his four years. But all in all Moshe did a fantastic job for us. We got there at the same time in August 2006, and he’s a big reason our program has grown over the last four years. He’s going to be sorely missed.’
On May 26, Vloedgraven participated in the NCAA singles tournament, losing in the first round to Auburn’s Tim Puetz, ranked 16th in the nation. Vloedgraven, who was the first men’s player from the America East to qualify for the tournament, was bounced 6-3, 6-3.
‘It was unfortunate; Sven was sick with food poisoning the night before. I’m not trying to take anything away from [Puetz]; he made the semifinals, he’s a great player. [Vloedgraven] wasn’t really able to do what he wanted to do. I was encouraged with his play, and I think he should be among the top 100 players next season, and this experience really helped him.’
The Bearcats finished with a 25-2 dual record, and a No. 2 Northeast region ranking in the final ITA regional rankings.