Saturday, April 26
West Point, N.Y.
10:00 AM
Lehigh University
1
vs
4
Army
Lehigh comes up short against top seed Army in tight 4-1 semifinal match
4/26/2014 6:45:00 PM | Men's Tennis
WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Lehigh men's tennis team came up short in its bid for a second straight league title and third championship match in four years, as the Mountain Hawks dropped a 4-1 match to host and top seed Army Saturday inside the Lichtenberg Tennis Center. The Black Knights captured the doubles point and captured three of the first four singles matches to finish.
The tightly contested battle saw four of the six singles matches go to three sets. Junior Ben Gilman claimed Lehigh's lone point with a three set win at No. 2 singles, while Army clinched the match when Caison Best prevailed in a third set over sophomore Jeremy Kochman at No. 4 singles.
Lehigh's season comes to an end at 12-8.
The Black Knights claimed the doubles point with wins at the bottom two flights. At No. 2 doubles Sam Lampman and Grant Riechmann won 8-5 over Gilman and Kochman. Kyle Barnes and Austin McCasin won 8-6 over senior Timur Chernykh and freshman Tyler Hansen. Army was also up in the match at first singles that did not finish.
In singles play, Army extended its lead with a 6-0, 6-3 win from Alex Van Velzer over Hansen at the No. 5 flight. Reichmann defeated junior Mitchell Petersen 8-6 in a second set tiebreak to claim a straight set victory at the No. 3 flight and bring Army within a point of clinching the match.
The remaining four matches went to deciding third sets. Gilman dropped his first set to Lampman at No. 2 but rebounded to take the next two by 6-1, 6-2 scores to get on the board. Kochman dropped his first set to Best but won the second 6-1 before falling in the third 6-4 allowing Army to clinch the match.
Lehigh's two seniors, Chernykh and Mark Goldberg were both in the midst of third sets when the match was clinched. Chernykh was up 5-4 in the third against Barnes at No. 6 singles, while Goldberg was down 2-1 in the third to Asika Isoh at the top flight.
Army will face rival and No. 3 seed Navy in Sunday's championship tilt.
Lehigh loses just two seniors, Chernykh and Goldberg, to graduation. Both players were key members of the 2011 team that advanced to the Patriot League Championship match for the first time in school history and last year's squad which won Lehigh's first ever Patriot League title in men's tennis and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
Army 4, Lehigh 1
Doubles
1. Asika Isoh/Alex Van Velzer (A) led Mark Goldberg/Mitchell Petersen (L) 5-2 (DNF)
2. Sam Lampman/Grant Riechmann (A) def. Ben Gilman/Jeremy Kochman (L) 8-5
3. Kyle Barnes/Austin McCasin (A) def. Tyler Hansen/Timur Chernykh (L) 8-6
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1 (DNF)
Singles
1. Asika Isoh (A) led Mark Goldberg (L) 6-4, 4-6, 2-1 (DNF)
2. Ben Gilman (L) def. Sam Lampman (A) 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
3. Grant Riechmann (A) def. Mitchell Petersen (L) 6-2, 7-6 (8-6)
4. Caison Best (A) def. Jeremy Kochman (L) 6-3, 1-6, 6-4
5. Alex Van Velzer (A) def. Tyler Hansen (L) 6-0, 6-3
6. Timur Chernykh (L) led Kyle Barnes (A) 4-6, 6-3, 5-4 (DNF)
The tightly contested battle saw four of the six singles matches go to three sets. Junior Ben Gilman claimed Lehigh's lone point with a three set win at No. 2 singles, while Army clinched the match when Caison Best prevailed in a third set over sophomore Jeremy Kochman at No. 4 singles.
Lehigh's season comes to an end at 12-8.
The Black Knights claimed the doubles point with wins at the bottom two flights. At No. 2 doubles Sam Lampman and Grant Riechmann won 8-5 over Gilman and Kochman. Kyle Barnes and Austin McCasin won 8-6 over senior Timur Chernykh and freshman Tyler Hansen. Army was also up in the match at first singles that did not finish.
In singles play, Army extended its lead with a 6-0, 6-3 win from Alex Van Velzer over Hansen at the No. 5 flight. Reichmann defeated junior Mitchell Petersen 8-6 in a second set tiebreak to claim a straight set victory at the No. 3 flight and bring Army within a point of clinching the match.
The remaining four matches went to deciding third sets. Gilman dropped his first set to Lampman at No. 2 but rebounded to take the next two by 6-1, 6-2 scores to get on the board. Kochman dropped his first set to Best but won the second 6-1 before falling in the third 6-4 allowing Army to clinch the match.
Lehigh's two seniors, Chernykh and Mark Goldberg were both in the midst of third sets when the match was clinched. Chernykh was up 5-4 in the third against Barnes at No. 6 singles, while Goldberg was down 2-1 in the third to Asika Isoh at the top flight.
Army will face rival and No. 3 seed Navy in Sunday's championship tilt.
Lehigh loses just two seniors, Chernykh and Goldberg, to graduation. Both players were key members of the 2011 team that advanced to the Patriot League Championship match for the first time in school history and last year's squad which won Lehigh's first ever Patriot League title in men's tennis and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
Army 4, Lehigh 1
Doubles
1. Asika Isoh/Alex Van Velzer (A) led Mark Goldberg/Mitchell Petersen (L) 5-2 (DNF)
2. Sam Lampman/Grant Riechmann (A) def. Ben Gilman/Jeremy Kochman (L) 8-5
3. Kyle Barnes/Austin McCasin (A) def. Tyler Hansen/Timur Chernykh (L) 8-6
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1 (DNF)
Singles
1. Asika Isoh (A) led Mark Goldberg (L) 6-4, 4-6, 2-1 (DNF)
2. Ben Gilman (L) def. Sam Lampman (A) 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
3. Grant Riechmann (A) def. Mitchell Petersen (L) 6-2, 7-6 (8-6)
4. Caison Best (A) def. Jeremy Kochman (L) 6-3, 1-6, 6-4
5. Alex Van Velzer (A) def. Tyler Hansen (L) 6-0, 6-3
6. Timur Chernykh (L) led Kyle Barnes (A) 4-6, 6-3, 5-4 (DNF)
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