Men's Tennis Tops UMass Boston, 8-1

Feb. 29, 2008

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - In the inaugural meeting between both programs, regionally-ranked No. 10 MIT defeated UMass Boston, 8-1, on Friday night. With the win, the Engineers improved to 2-1 on the year while the Beacons fell in their season-opener.

MIT opened the match with a pair of 8-3 decisions in the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles positions. Eric Beren and Ken Van Tilburg defeated Matthias Busch and Jovan Jordan-Whitter in the top spot while Vinith Misra and Michael Price posted their victory over Amit Kumar and Reinaldo Lopes. In the No. 2 slot, Peden Nichols and Jonathan Farm outlasted Ali Al-Sabbagh and Pavel Braude, 8-6.

UMass Boston's Jordan-Whitter prevented a singles sweep with a hard-fought 7-5, 6-7, 10-8 win over Van Tilburg in the No. 1 spot. Pang defeated Braude, 6-1, 6-2, in the next position as Nichols and Farm recorded a pair of 6-1, 6-0 decisions over Busch and Al-Sabbagh, respectively. Kumar fell to Manuel Rivera by a 6-0, 6-2 margin in the No. 5 slot while Ryan Castonia wrapped up the match with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Lopes.

Next up for MIT will be a home match against Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday, March 1. UMass Boston will resume action on Tuesday, March 25 at Wheaton College.

UMass Boston vs. MIT
Final Team Score: MIT 8, UMass Boston 1

Doubles
1. Eric Beren/Ken Van Tilburg (M) def. Matthias Busch/Jovan Jordan-Whitter (UMB), 8-3
2. Peden Nichols/Jonathan Farm (M) def. Ali Al-Sabbagh/Pavel Braude (UMB), 8-6
3. Vinith Misra/Michael Price (M) def. Amit Kumar/Reinaldo Lopes (UMB), 8-3

Singles
1. Jovan Jordan-Whitter (UMB) def Ken Van Tilburg (M), 7-5, 6-7, 10-8
2. Kevin Pang (M) def. Pavel Braude (UMB), 6-1, 6-2
3. Peden Nichols (M) def. Matthias Busch (UMB), 6-1, 6-0
4. Jonathan Farm (M) def. Ali Al-Sabbagh (UMB), 6-1, 6-0
5. Manuel Rivera (M) def. Amit Kumar (UMB), 6-0, 6-2
6. Ryan Castonia (M) def. Reinaldo Lopes (UMB), 6-0, 6-1