Junior Eric Ringstad cruised to a straight sets win at No. 2 singles today. |
Litvinchu leads Panthers to Thursday's NE-10 semifinal round
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (April 22, 2014) – Fourth-seeded Adelphi University, ranked 10th in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division II East Regional rankings and fifth in the NCAA East Regional rankings, advanced to Thursday's semifinal round with a 5-2 victory over fifth-seeded Stonehill College, ranked ninth in the ITA regional rankings, in first round action of the 2014 Northeast-10 Conference Tournament at Adelphi Tennis Courts this afternoon.
Adelphi (11-6, 8-2 NE-10) advances to Thursday's semifinal round where it will face top-seeded Merrimack College, ranked fourth in the NCAA East Regional rankings and fifth in the ITA regional poll, at North Andover High School at 2 p.m. The Warriors (12-7, 10-0 NE-10) earned a first round bye as regular season champions of the Conference. Stonehill sees its season come to a close with a 12-9 record overall, including 6-4 in NE-10 play.
Adelphi swept the three doubles matches on its way to the second straight postseason win over Stonehill. Junior Ryan Villarruel (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's Boys) and sophomore Sebastian Zapata (Toronto, Ontario/Northview Heights) clinched the doubles sweep with their 9-7 decision over Stonehill senior Brett Armstrong (Manville, R.I./Mount Saint Charles Academy) and junior Eric Ringstad (Fairbanks, Alaska/Monroe Catholic) at No. 1. Villarruel also clinched the Panthers win with his 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-0 triumph at No. 3 singles against sophomore Philip Klados (Lake Forest, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic).
Sophomore Uladzislau Litvinchu (Brest, Belarus) claimed singles and doubles wins to lead the way for Adelphi. He combined with classmate Sander Brenner (Port Washington, N.Y./Paul D. Schreiber) for an 8-5 win at No. 2 doubles against Stonehill juniors Tom Alaimo (North Andover, Mass./Central Catholic) and Jon Sanders (Holbrook, N.Y./St. Anthony's). Litvinchu went on to add a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 5 singles over Armstrong. Juniors Chiwete Njokanma (Lagos, Nigeria) and Justin Vijungco (Forest Hills, N.Y./Forest Hills) claimed the Panthers third doubles point with their 8-5 decision at No. 3.
Senior Nick Hyzak (Guilford, Conn./Guilford) and Ringstad earned points for Stonehill at No. 1 and 2 singles, respectively. Hyzak won a back and forth 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 match over Brenner, while Ringstad claimed a 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 2 over Zapata.
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