Sept. 23, 2006
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Fairfield began its quest to defend its ECAC North Championship crown in a big way this afternoon as four Stags advanced to tomorrow's finals.
Senior Jonathan Fernando (Verona, N.J./St. Peter's Prep) advanced to the finals of first singles with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 decision against Eric Bratt of Oneonta. Fernando will match-up against NYU's Mikhail Gurevic tomorrow.
Also advancing to the finals was freshman Ryan Berthod (White Plains, N.Y.), who picked up a 7-5, 6-2 win against Vassar's Ashish Patil at second singles. Berthod will take on Saint Peter's JJ Grammatica tomorrow.
At third singles, top-seeded Chip Palumbo (Winchester, Mass.) advanced to the finals of the flight with a 6-7, 6-2, 6-2 win against NYU's Craig Berger. Palumbo, a silver medalist last year, will face Vassar's Mike Mattelson in tomorrow's final.
Top-seeded Zachary Morrison (Los Angeles, Calif.) cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Saint Peter's Peter Czajka to advance to the finals of fourth singles. Morrison will face Oneonta's Matt Steinhauser tomorrow.
At fifth singles, top-seeded Tim Mahoney (Naples, Fla.) dropped a hard fought match to Vassar's Jeremy Rosen, 3-6, 1-6, in the semifinals. Mahoney will face NYU's PJ Marancha in tomorrow's consolation round.
In doubles action, junior Balazs Szikla (Budapest, Hungary) and freshman Bob Kelly (Queensbury, N.Y.) served up a victory in the quarterfinals downing NYU's Ian Magid and Carmen Petaccio, 6-0, 6-3. In the semifinals, however, Sikla and Kelly fell to Vassar's Jared Mayer and Robert Babbage, 4-6, 5-7.
This year's ECAC North Championship field consists of participants from New York University, Oneonta, Saint Peter's College, and host Vassar. Last season, Fairfield had one gold medalist and three silver medalists to edge out NYU, 22-20, for the team title.
Tomorrow's final rounds begin at 10 a.m. while the consolation brackets begin at 9 a.m.
