FLUSHING, N.Y.- On Saturday afternoon, the Queens College men's tennis team rolled past the St. Thomas Aquinas College Spartans 4-1 to win their fourth-straight East Coast Conference (ECC) championship inside the QC Tennis Courts. 
 
The Knights (8-6) who claimed their second straight regular-season championship last weekend booked their 19th straight NCAA tournament appearance as they defeated the Spartans (6-4) for the fourth time this season. 
 
The two sides were meeting in the conference championship for the second time with the global pandemic canceling the 2020 season. 
 
Doubles Competitions
 
The Knights clinched the doubles points winning at the No. 1 and 2 doubles courts as they took a 1-0 lead. 
 
The Knights No. 1 doubles pair of sophomore Moritz Borges (Hunxe, Germany) / junior Lucas Demuth (Buenos Aires, Argentina) defeated Spartans Kas Roosch / Ivan Laiz to the score of 6-3 before the No. 2 doubles pair of freshmen Omar El Shehawey (Cairo, Egypt) / senior Eduardo Marino (Sao Paulo, Brazil)  clinched the doubles point defeating Enej Hasicevic / Alvaro Barranco with a 6-3 victory. 
 
Singles Competition
 
Up 1-0 following the conclusion of doubles action, sophomore Mariano Bibiloni (La Plata, Argentina) put the Knights up 2-0 defeating Barranco in straight sets to the score of 6-1, 6-3 at the No. 3 spot. 
 
The Spartans cut the deficit down to 2-1 as Spartans Lennart Lehmann defeated freshmen Tim Ostheimer (Frankfurt, Germany) at the No. 1 spot to the score of 6-3, 7-5.
 
The Knights went up 3-1 following the victory at the No. 4 spot as Demuth fought a back and forth match as he needed a first set tiebreaker victory of 7-6 (12-10) before clinching the victory with a 7-5 second set win. 
 
The Knights would officially book their ticket to next weekend NCAA championship as ECC Preseason Player of the Year junior Kareem Rashad (Alexandria, Egypt) needed three sets to clinch the win for the Knights at the No. 2 spot against Roosch. Rashad took the first set 7-5, before dropping the second set 6-3. The Egyptian native kept his composure and showed why he was voted preseason player of the year as he finished off Roosch 6-3 in the third set setting off the second celebration of the day as the Queens College tennis programs claimed both the Men's and Women's East Coast Conference titles. 
 
Postgame Comments
 
Head Coach Somadi Druker: This was a very unconventional season with many changes and challenges. Every day we got to step on the court with a championship-winning mindset. Ending the season with the title made it all come together. I want to dedicate this championship to all the players, ECC, and QC staff for making this all possible. Everyone's lives were turned upside down last year. The team still has a lot left to give and with the Regional Championships next weekend, we're ready for the next challenge on and off the court.
 
Senior Eduardo Marino: I am extremely proud of our team. With so many adversities in our way, we were still able to come out strong and compete at a very competitive level, which brought us the title today. Personally, I am very happy with this achievement as this is my last season playing for QC and I can only thank everyone, from the athletics staff to my teammates for the hard work that has been put into it so that it would be possible for us to play this semester. The season is not over yet and we are looking forward to playing regionals and going beyond that.
 
Junior Kareem Rashad: It feels so good to win the ECC championship 4 times in a row and I have been part of two. I am ecstatic that I was the clinching point and hopefully, we will give our best in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. GO KNIGHTS!!
 
With the automatic bid clinched virtue of the conference championship, the Knights will now await their next opponent as the field for the DII men's tennis championship will be announced on Tuesday (May 4) at 8:00 p.m. ET on NCAA.com. 
 
Prior to the start of competition, head coach Druker and the Knights honored their graduating senior Marino in their annual senior day ceremony.
 
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