Sunday, April 21
Syracuse, N.Y.
12:00:00 PM
Lehigh University
4
vs
0
Navy
Mountain Hawks down Navy 4-0 to win first Patriot League title
4/22/2013 12:16:00 AM | Men's Tennis
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – For the first time in school history, the Lehigh men's tennis team can call themselves Patriot League Champions, as the Mountain Hawks defeated Navy 4-0 in the Patriot League finals Sunday at Drumlins Country Club. The Mountain Hawks won a tightly-contested doubles point and then posted three straight-set singles wins to clinch the title.
With its second win over Navy in the last eight days, Lehigh improves to 18-5 on the season. The Mountain Hawks, who previously reached the league final in 2011, captured their first league title in men's tennis and will play in next month's NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history after winning the league's automatic bid.
“A lot of things worked in our favor,” said Lehigh head coach Wouter Hendrix. “We got the two seed. We were able to get used to the indoor courts in our first match and the weather kept us indoors the rest of the weekend. The courts are very similar to our home courts, which gave us a bit of an edge. Hendrix continued, “We came so close two years ago. Last year was a learning experience with a young team. We worked a lot on our fitness and creating a winning culture. I'm not really surprised. I thought we had a good team. We earned this and as the first championship in school history it's something the whole team can be very proud of for a long time.”
Lehigh captured the doubles point with close wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 flights. The Mountain Hawks captured the first match in doubles as the top team of junior Mark Goldberg and sophomore Mitchell Petersen won 7-5 in a tiebreak to defeat Calvin Mark and Peter McDonald. Navy pulled even with a win at No. 2 doubles as Blake Daniel and Nicholas Gutsche won 8-5 over senior Matt Savran and freshman Jeremy Kochman.
The doubles point came down to the match at the No. 3 flight and sophomore Ben Gilman and senior Andrew Krentz teamed for an 8-6 win over Austin Jones and Alex Gaines to give the Mountain Hawks a 1-0 lead in the match.
Lehigh came out strong in singles play at the top and bottom of its lineup. Goldberg was the first to finish in singles with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Mark at the top flight. Junior Timur Chernykh, who battled cramping late in his semifinal win versus Bucknell Saturday night won a second set tiebreak 7-5 to defeat Alex Gaines 6-4, 7-6 at No. 6 singles, to give Lehigh a 3-0 lead.
The championship-clinching win came from Gilman at No. 2 singles as he defeated McDonald 6-4, 7-5 to send the Mountain Hawks into celebration mode.
“It was quite a tall order because yesterday we played Bucknell in an epic match,” Hendrix said. “Chernykh could barely stand up anymore. He was leaning on his racket as he was returning for match point. His opponent double faulted and it was pandemonium.
“Today it was really close in doubles,” Hendrix continued. “We took an early lead and were playing out of our minds, but they started to come back and we got a little tight. We squeezed out the doubles point there and then went on a roll in singles. Mark played really well, Timur won again, and Ben clinched and that was it.”
Savran was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player for his performance in Lehigh's semifinal win over Bucknell. Savran was part of the doubles team that clinched the doubles point versus the Bison and added a key straight-set win at No. 4 singles. The senior co-captain was undefeated against Patriot League opponents in singles throughout the season. Savran was up 2-0 in the third set against Daniel when Gilman clinched the match.
“Matt's in the best shape he's ever been in and he's playing the best tennis he's ever played,” Hendrix said. “He's taking care of his body and doing all the right things. He has set a great example to all the other guys in terms of leadership. A number of guys were deserving but Matt was undefeated in Patriot League play. He has been instrumental to our success.”
Navy ends its season at 17-12.
The Mountain Hawks will learn their NCAA Tournament fate on Tuesday, April 30 when the seeds and matchups are announced on NCAA.com.
Lehigh 4, Navy 0
Doubles
1. Goldberg/Petersen (LU) def. Mark/McDonald (Navy) 9-8 (7-5)
2. Daniel/Gutsche (Navy) def, Savran/Kochman (LU) 8-5
3. Gilman/Krentz (LU) def. Jones/Gaines (Navy) 8-6
Order of finish: 1,2,3
Singles
1. Mark Goldberg (LU) def. Calvin Mark (Navy) 6-4, 6-2
2. Ben Gilman (LU) def. Peter McDonald (Navy) 6-4, 7-5
3. Austin Jones (Navy) vs. Mitchell Petersen (LU) 7-6, 0-3 DNF
4. Matt Savran (Lehigh) vs. Blake Daniel (Navy) 3-6, 6-4, 2-0 DNF
5. Nicholas Gutsche (Navy) vs. Andrew Krentz (LU) 6-1, 5-3 DNF
6. Timur Chernykh (LU) def. Alex Gaines (Navy) 6-4, 7-6 (5)
Order of finish: 1,6,2
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