Farmingdale State 6, USMMA 3
KINGS POINT, N.Y. | Led by victories in the top-two doubles and top-three singles flights, the Farmingdale State College men's tennis team won its fifth-consecutive match Wednesday afternoon at the Brooks Stadium Tennis Courts, and clinched a first-round bye in next week's six-team Skyline Conference Men's Tennis Championship with a 6-3 decision at the United States Merchant Marine Academy.
Once again, the top-two doubles flights carried the Rams (11-3, 5-1 Skyline) to an advantage to start play, with the No. 1 tandem of senior Mark Baker (Baldwin, N.Y.) and freshman Ryan Hendel (No. Merrick, N.Y.) earning their 10th-consecutive decision by an 8-3 count over Connor McQuade and RJ Novak of the Mariners (5-5, 3-3). Junior Alan Sabovic (Bohemia, N.Y.) and senior Muhammad Sawar (Brentwood, N.Y.) followed suit in the second flight, capturing an 8-2 triumph against USMMA's Tom Chairs and Demme Kraut.
Baker (No. 1) and Sabovic (No. 2) have now won 11 and 10 straight singles matches, respectively, with Baker sweeping past Chairs by identical 6-0 scores. Meanwhile, Sabovic registered identical 6-3 set scores in his victory over Novak. Hendel's fifth-consecutive singles win came at the No. 3 flight, 6-1 and 6-1, against McQuade, while senior Matthew Olkhovetsky (Great Neck, N.Y.) rounded out FSC's scoring by gutting out an 11-9 decision in the third-set super tiebreaker at the No. 6 flight after swapping 6-4 sets with Brandom Bomboy.
Head coach Adam Waterhouse's Rams, who have won 10 of their last 11 outings, can finish no worse than second in the conference standings, and will play host to a semifinal match in the Skyline tourney next Thursday (April 27) at a time, and against an opponent, to be determined. Prior to the championship, Farmingdale State will play host to an exhibition Friday at 2:30 p.m. against Nassau Community College, where the team will hold Senior Day ceremonies 30 minutes prior. The Rams' regular-season schedule officially wraps up Saturday at noon in a Skyline date against visiting St. Joseph's University-Long Island.