Farmingdale State 5, Yeshiva 0
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. | Led by the school-record 44th career singles victory by senior standout Mark Baker (Baldwin, N.Y.), the second-seeded Farmingdale State College men's tennis team picked up its seventh-consecutive victory Thursday night in the semifinal round of the 2023 Skyline Conference Men's Tennis Championship, as the Rams (13-3) took down third-seeded Yeshiva (7-11) by the score of 5-0.
Baker now moves into sole possession of the top singles wins mark all-time at FSC, moving past previous record holder Alex Bessarabov (2010-13), who picked up 43 victories in 55 career outings for the Rams.
Head coach Adam Waterhouse's FSC squad now advances to Friday's championship final, where it will travel to Purchase, N.Y., to take on top-seeded Manhattanville College at 1 p.m. The winner of the Skyline title will receive automatic qualification to next week's 2023 NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championship.
Farmingdale State swept through the three doubles matches, including an 8-0 decision at the top flight by Baker and freshman Ryan Hendel (No. Merrick, N.Y.) over the Macs' Kobi Ciment and Jonathan Mayer -- the 12th-straight decision by the Rams' duo, and Baker's school-record 44th win in doubles action. The hosts' No. 2 tandem of junior Alan Sabovic (Bohemia, N.Y.) and senior Muhammad Sawar (Brentwood, N.Y.) followed suit not long after, besting YU's Michael Natkin and Eli Hanuka by an 8-2 count, before senior Matthew Olkhovetsky (Great Neck, N.Y.) and junior Ethan Cintron (Bayside, N.Y.) completed the Farmingdale State sweep with an 8-5 triumph versus Eitan Jeselsohn and Harry Radinsky.
Baker moved into sole possession on the Farmingdale State career singles ledger at the top flight, moving past Ciment by scores of 6-0 and 3-0 before winning by retirement. Sabovic closed out the match at No. 2, defeating Mayer by a 6-1, 6-0 margin.