FLUSHING, N.Y. – For the seventh time in program history, the Queens College men's tennis team is Sweet 16 Bound! Earning the #1 seed in the NCAA East Region Bracket, head coach
Somadi Druker and the Knights welcomed #5 seed Southern New Hampshire University Penmen to the QC Indoor Tennis Bubble in the NCAA Men's Tennis Round of 32.
It would be the third time in program history that Druker and her Knights squad matched up against the Penmen to determine who would move onto the Sweet 16 with the visitors holding the advantage having defeated Queens in 2019 and 2022.
But on Tuesday, a new story would fold as the mixture of veterans and rookies combined to lead the Knights back to the Sweet 16 for the first time since the 2017-18 Season.
The Knights would earn a thrilling doubles point with the winning point coming in a tiebreaker at #3 doubles before the #1, #4, and #3 singles clinched the match as Queens earned a 4-0 victory to advance to the Championship Finals.
With the win, the Knights improved to 17-6 overall on the year.
Doubles
Queens began the doubles action on a strong note as the senior pair of
Roni Rikkonen (Tampere, Finland) and
Omar El Shehawey (Cairo, Egypt) defeated Cade Nadeau and Jesse Den Hartog to the score of 6-2.
With the Knights leading 1-0, the final two doubles matches would be a back-and-forth affair as the Penmen took a 6-5 lead at #2 doubles while the #3 doubles match between senior
Francisco Gonzalez (La Plata, Argentina) and freshman
Tim Andersson (Linkoping, Sweden) against Melvin Vix and Aron Ouwejan went into a tiebreaker.
The Knights pair took a 2-0 early lead before the Penmen tied the score at 2-2, but Queens would earn four straight games to take a lead of 6-2 before the home side officially closed out the match to the final score of 7-6
(7-3) to take a 1-0 lead into singles play.
The #2 doubles match between sophomore
Lucas Foix Sotos (Javea, Spain) and senior
Cameron Henricy (Las Palmas, Spain) against Jaden Williams and Phillipp Roeder went unfinished.
Singles
It would be smooth sailing at #1 singles for Rikkonen as the ITA East Regional Singles Champions and East Coast Conference Player of the Year made quick work of Hartog to the score of 6-1, 6-0 to put the Knights up 2-0.
Queens would take a commanding lead of 3-0 as Foix Sotos at #4 singles knocked off Ouwejan in straight sets to the score of 6-3, 6-3.
Needing one more victory to clinch the match, attention turned to the #2 singles of Henricy vs. Nadeau and the #3 singles between Andersson vs. Vix.
At #2 singles Henricy trailed the first set to the score of 4-1 before earning a 6-4 victory, while at #3 singles Andersson took the first set to the score of 6-2.
With both players nearing the clinching point, with Andersson up 5-4 and Henricy up 5-1 in the second set, it would be the rookie who would clinch the match for Queens with a 6-4 victory as Queens completed the sweep and earned their first spot in the NCAA Sweet 16 since the 2017-2018 season.
Next Serve
Head coach
Somadi Druker and the Knights now await their next opponent which gets announced on May 15. The Championship finals will take place in Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Florida from May 21 to May 25.
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