In a rematch of last year’s America East championship final, the No. 47 Binghamton University men’s tennis team dismantled Stony Brook 7-0 on Saturday and proved that it will be a force to be reckoned with in the postseason. The match marked the end of what has been a stellar regular season for the 23-1 Bearcats.
“Stony Brook is a good team and we played well on Saturday,” said Bearcats head coach Adam Cohen. “They’re at least the same level if not better than last year and we might have to face them in the tournament again, so we’ll be ready.”
Bearcat junior No. 1 Sven Vloedgraven coasted through his match 6-1, 6-0 against junior Ivan Rummell. Vloedgraven’s 36-8 overall record is an improvement over last year when he won the America East Player of the Year award.
Binghamton senior No. 2 Moshe Levy also won in straight sets by a score of 7-5, 6-2 over Seawolves senior Jon Epstein. In his best season ever at BU, Levy has racked up a 22-7 overall record after playing in the final home match of his illustrious career.
Closing the lid on an undefeated dual season, junior Arnav Jain posted an easy 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 5 singles against senior Ivan Shvartz. Jain has a 33-3 overall record and is a perfect 22-0 in dual matches this year.
Junior Gilbert Wong, last year’s Most Outstanding Player in the AE championship, was pushed to his limits at No. 3 singles before prevailing 6-7, 6-3, 10-4 in a third-set super tiebreak over Stony Brook senior Halvar Dil. Wong improved his overall record to 33-7 and 21-1 in duals.
Sophomore Alexandre Haggai and freshman Ruben Devos also took their singles matches in straight sets. Vloedgraven and Wong took first doubles 8-7, Levy and Haggai won second doubles 8-1 and Devos and freshman Bastian Bornkessel took third doubles 8-4.
The Bearcats have won a school-record 18 matches in a row, winning three of their last four in 7-0 sweeps, and are now looking to compete for their third straight America East championship title and the NCAA tournament berth that comes with it.
“I’m pleased with the way the guys have competed and continued to improve throughout the year,” Cohen said. “To go 23-1 is a pretty good season and we just hope we can keep it up for another weekend and get back into the NCAA tournament.”
The official seeds for the AE tournament won’t be released until Wednesday, but Cohen stated that the Bearcats have a high probability to obtain the No. 1 seed based on their conference wins and overall strength of schedule.
“I don’t think being the favorite would add any more pressure to us,” Cohen said. “We’re battle-tested and our guys know that it’s a win-or-go-home situation so we’re going to try to play our best no matter what.”
The Bearcats are now vying for their third straight AE title. The America East championship will take place this weekend at Yale University in New Haven, Conn.