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Dolphins Advance to NCAA Championship in Orlando for Second-Straight Season.
FLUSHING, N.Y. – Senior Kacper Piekarek registered the clinching point for the second straight day as the fifth-seeded Le Moyne men's tennis team rallied for a 4-3 win over 33rd-ranked and top-seeded Queens College on Saturday afternoon in the NCAA Championships Round of 32 at the QC Indoor Bubble.
With the victory, the Dolphins (15-4) will now advance to the NCAA Championships for the second straight year in Orlando, Fla., starting on Thursday, May 11 at the USTA National Campus. The team's opponent will be announced by the NCAA once all 16 berths have been claimed early this week.
Queens, which is ranked 33rd nationally, took a 1-0 lead in the match by claiming the point in the doubles competition. Lluis Miralles Miro and Lucas Demuth secured the first win for Queens, 6-4, at the second position over sophomore Peter Hatton and graduate student Manuel Righi. Moritz Borges and Omar El Shehawey clinched the point with a 6-3 victory at the third spot over Piekarek and classmate Rodrigo Beires. Graduate student Tom Jarry and senior Ethan Miller were leading Kareem Rashad and Roni Rikkonen at the first position, 5-4, when the point was clinched.
The Dolphins rallied during the singles competition to advance to the NCAA Round of 16. Mariano Bibiloni gave the Knights a 2-0 lead in the match by downing graduate student Alberto Diaz at the sixth spot, 6-1, 6-0. Hatton got the Dolphins on the scoreboard with a 6-2, 6-3 victory at the first position over Rikkonen to improve to 13-1 at the spot. Borges got Queens within one point of the victory with a 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 win over Miller at the fifth spot. Righi started Le Moyne's comeback with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 victory at the third position over Rashad to move to 16-1 in dual matches, including 7-0 at the third spot. Jarry evened the match at three apiece by recording a 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) win at the second spot over Cameron Henricy. Piekarek completed the comeback with a 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-2 victory over Demuth at the fourth position.
- Recap provided by Le Moyne athletic communications -
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