Skyhawks Win Stonehill Invitational

Junior Nick Hyzak won the No. 4 singles title to help lead the Skyhawks to the team title at its Stonehill Invitational over the weekend. (PHOTO BY Bert Lane)

Skyhawks reach all five finals, Hyzak and Martin/Armstrong win titles

EASTON, Mass. (October 7, 2012) – Stonehill College claimed the team title with finalists in all five brackets, coming away with two flight champions, at its Stonehill Invitational at Charles Watt Tennis Courts on Saturday and Sunday.

Stonehill finished with 24 points as all five of its entries in the four singles and one doubles bracket reached their finals. Wheaton College finished second with 21 points, placing four of its five entries in their bracket finals and winning a pair of singles championships, while the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth took third with 11 points thanks to a win at No. 1 singles.

Junior Nick Hyzak (Guilford, Conn./Guilford) won the No. 4 singles championship for Stonehill with a 6-4, 6-7 (7-2), 10-3 victory over Wheaton College's David Gassen. Hyzak opened the tournament with a 6-2, 6-1 quarterfinal round victory over Christ-Brian Amendjonekou from Post University before topping Zack Bussiere from Roger Williams University 6-1, 6-3 in the semifinals. Hyzak reached a flight final for the second time in three years at the Stonehill Invitational after falling in the No. 4 singles championship his freshman season.

Junior Brett Armstrong was part of the winning doubles team for the second-straight year.

Stonehill's pairing of senior Chris Martin (Darien, Conn./Darien) and Brett Armstrong (Manville, R.I./Mount Saint Charles Academy) won the doubles championship with a 6-3, 6-0 decision over the Wheaton tandem of Tyler Smith and Lawrence Chan. Martin and Armstrong posted an 8-0 quarterfinal win over Jason Pacino and Jonah Schwartz from Roger Williams and then topped Bridgewater State University's Sean Bleau and Jesse Gotlib, 8-1 in the semis. It marks the second-straight year Armstrong has won the doubles championship at the Stonehill Invitational after winning with sophomore Thomas Alaimo (North Andover, Mass./Central Catholic) last year.

Karsten Rathlev from UMass Dartmouth won the No. 1 singles championship for the second-straight year with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Stonehill sophomore Eric Ringstad (Fairbanks, Alaska/Monroe Catholic). It marked the second-straight year the two have faced off for the No. 1 singles championship. Ringstad reached the finals by topping Wheaton's Will White, in the match that would prove the difference in winning the team title, 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. He followed that up with a 6-1, 6-2 decision over Salve Regina University's Aaron Isch in the semifinals.

Wheaton's Dan Sharon topped Alaimo in the No. 2 singles final, 6-2, 6-4. Alaimo was playing in a flight final for the second-straight year after he was defeated in the No. 3 singles bracket as a freshman. He reached the final by topping Pat Lewis from UMass Dartmouth, 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals before defeating Taylor Webster from Roger Williams, 6-2, 6-4, in the semifinals.

Wheaton's Sam Jackson won the No. 3 singles final by rallying for a 2-6, 7-5, 10-8 victory over Stonehill freshman Philip Klados (Lake Forest, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic). Klados advanced to the final in his rookie season by claiming a 6-2, 6-0 win over Eastern Nazarene's Tyler Perron. He followed that up with a back and forth 6-4, 2-6, 10-4 win over Matt Bejtlich from UMass Dartmouth in the semifinals.

Stonehill concludes its fall schedule with a 6-0 record overall, including a 3-0 mark in Northeast-10 Conference play.

Team Totals

Stonehill: 24 points

Wheaton: 21

UMass Dartmouth: 11

Eastern Nazarene: 9

Bridgewater State: 7

Roger Williams: 7

Post: 4

Salve Regina: 2

Individual Results

First Singles: Karsten Rathlev (UMass Dartmouth) def. Eric Ringstad (Stonehill) 6-3, 6-2