SKIDMORE MEN'S TENNIS LIBERTY LEAGUE TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

Preview of the Liberty League Men's Tennis Championship

Friday May 3 Sunday May 5, 2024; Reis Tennis Center, Cornell University; Ithaca, NY

TOURNAMENT COVERAGE:
LIVE RESULTS

Live tournament results can also be viewed on the iOnCourt mobile app.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:
Friday

8:30 – #5 Skidmore vs. #4 St. Lawrence
11:30 AM – #6 Ithaca vs. #3 Vassar

Saturday

8:30am – #1 RPI vs. #4/5 winner
11:30am – #2 Hobart vs. #3/6 winner

Sunday

9:00 AM Semi-final winners

ABOUT THE TEAMS:
#1 RPI (15-1 overall, 8-0 Liberty League)

• RPI earned the top seed in the Liberty League tournament after going undefeated in league play (8-0). The Engineers, currently the league's top-ranked team at 23rd in the Division III poll, are ranked seventh in the ITA Northeast Region rankings.
• RPI defeated Hobart 5-4 on the road in a match that determined the top seed. The Engineers defeated the Statesmen in last year's Liberty League championship game, 5-3, after a doubles sweep.
• Junior All-American Aiden Drover-Mattinen anchors the RPI lineup from the top singles position for the third straight year. Drover-Mattinen is 13-3 in singles doubles, including 7-1 in the Liberty League. His only defeat in league play was a narrow 7-6, 6-4 decision against Hobart's Sean Pesin in Geneva. Drover-Mattinen and sophomore Andy Zhu also have a combined 14-2 record in first doubles (7-1 Liberty League). Drover-Mattinen is currently ranked 13th in the ITA Northeast Region, while Drover-Mattinen and Zhu are ranked eighth in the region in doubles.
• RPI went 43-5 in Liberty League singles matches and 20-4 in doubles. Zhu (8-0), Bryce Burnham (8-0) and Tasmay Shah (7-0) were undefeated in the competition.

#2 HOBART (14-5 overall, 7-1 Liberty League)

• After starting the spring 0-3 with losses to 9th-ranked Denison, Division I Cornell and 21st-ranked TCNJ, Hobart reeled off twelve straight wins before dropping a close 5-4 decision to RPI. The Statesmen are currently ranked 34th nationally and 10th in the ITA Northeast Region.
• The first doubles team of senior Sean Pesin and sophomore Nick Fischer is currently ranked fifth in the ITA Northeast Region with a 13-5 record and a 7-1 mark in Liberty League play. The team's only defeat was a narrow 8-7 (7-4) loss to Vassar in Hobart's first league match of the year.
• Pesin, an NCAA singles qualifier last spring, is 9-7 at first singles, including 5-1 in Liberty League play. As a team, Hobart went 40-8 in Liberty League singles matches and 18-6 in doubles.
• Freshman Achilleas Kousaridis and junior Hyat Oyer lead the Statesmen with 14 dual match wins each.

#3 VASSAR (12-5 overall, 6-2 Liberty League)

• Vassar, currently ranked 45th in the latest Division III poll, has battled a number of injuries this spring but has continued to post strong results. After dropping a 5-4 decision to Hobart in the first league match of the spring, the Brewers won their next five Liberty League games.
• Senior Jay Wong returned to the lineup after missing the 2022-2023 season and has had a strong campaign at the top of the Vassar lineup. Wong is 10-7 in dual matches and 6-2 in the Liberty League, with his only losses coming against Drover-Mattinen and Pesin.
• Vassar was strong at positions 3 through 6 in the singles lineup, as each lineup produced an 11–6 record in doubles matches. Freshman Eugene Lee is the team leader in doubles match wins with 11, including a 7-1 mark at third singles.
• The doubles team of Lee and Pedro Cattaruzzi has had the most success, going 8-4 in third doubles and 2-1 in Liberty League play.

#4 PC. LAWRENCE (8-10 overall, 4-4 Liberty League)

• St. Lawrence, ranked seventh in the Liberty League preseason poll, finished fourth under first-year head coach Tavis Rieger. The Saints opened their Liberty League schedule with a 5-4 victory over Skidmore, the first win for the Saints over the Thoroughbreds since the 2009-10 season. The teams will meet again on Friday in the first match of the tournament.
• Senior Adam Heilbronner moved up to first singles this season after playing second singles as a junior. Including tournament play, he has seven victories this year.
• The strength of the Saints' lineup lies in positions 4 through 6, as senior Ben Moolman and juniors John Hill-Edgar and Edvin Strandberg have combined for 25 wins through two games, including 11 in the Liberty League.
• St. Lawrence's first doubles team of Heilbronner and junior Broderick Pinto played together all spring and had a 9-8 record (4-4 Liberty League).

#5 SKIDMORE (5-11 overall, 4-4 Liberty League)

• Skidmore is one of the youngest teams in the league with a roster consisting of one junior, two sophomores and six freshman players. The Thoroughbreds have played one of the toughest games in the country after taking on Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (#1), Middlebury (#2), Washington-St. Louis (#7), Trinity-Texas (#9) and Tufts (#11) along with three seeded Liberty League teams.
• Skidmore has gone 27-21 in Liberty League singles matches and 12-12 in doubles. Sophomore Nika Mori has been the team's most consistent player with an 8-8 record through two games and a 7-1 mark in the Liberty League.
• First-year players Louis Bourn, Yuval Goodman And Fletcher King have occupied places at the top of the line-up. The Thoroughbreds have used 19 different doubles combinations this season. Bourn and Junior Griffioen Biernat are a combined 5-2, including a 5-0 mark in Liberty League play.

#6 ITHACA (7-11 overall, 3-5 Liberty League)

• Ithaca returns to the Liberty League tournament for the first time since 2018-19, when the Bombers earned a first-round win over Vassar. First-year head coach Tom Rishcoff has led Ithaca to a 7-9 record against Division III opponents and league victories over Union, RIT and Bard.
• Senior Nicolas Luis, a second-team All-Liberty League selection, anchors Ithaca's lineup from the number one singles position. Luis has gone 10-7 in doubles matches and 5-3 in the Liberty League. Freshman player Gijs Fidler is coming off a strong rookie season with a record of 10-6 in singles (10-5 in second singles) and 5-2 in league matches.
• The doubles team of freshman Fidler and Emiliano Pedrero was solid for the Bombers, going 11-11 overall and 7-8 in doubles matches at first doubles.

NEXT ONE: The championship team earns the Liberty League's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship.