The Berkeley College New York men's tennis team picked up its first win in the program's history on Thursday evening, turning back the Warriors of Vaughn College by a score of 6-3 Thursday evening at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, NY. With the victory, the Knights improved their record to a mark of 1-1 (1-1 HVIAC), while Vaughn College is still searching for its first win of the 2015 campaign – as the Warriors sit at 0-2 (0-2 HVIAC).
The Knights jumped out to an early edge by capturing two out of the three doubles sets. Berkeley solidified victories at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles, while the Warriors picked up a win at No. 2. At No. 1 set doubles, the Knights' combination of Herder Pisco and Thinh Nguyen silenced Vaughn's duo of Joel Haynes and Ahmed Aly by a score of 8-1. Berkeley triumphed at No. 3 when Sebastian Rousseau and Omar Durrani defeated the Wariors' Karim Fadel and Matt-Duncan-Lovell, 8-1. Vaughn's lone win at doubles came at No. 2, when Tobi Oladeji and Alamine Alami-Binani outlasted the Knights' Chubak Ulan and Essofi Amine, 8-6.
When play switched to singles, Berkeley captured four of the six sets to account for the 6-3 final score. The Knights nailed-down victories at No's 1, 2, 3, and 4, while Vaughn triumphed at No's 5 and 6. No. 1 singles saw Nguyen dominate Haynes, 10-0. Durrani defeated Oladeji 10-4 at No. 2, and Pisco downed Alami-Binani 10-3 at No. 3 set singles. No. 4 singles featured Rousseau claiming victory, as he won a hard fought match with Fadel, 10-6. Vaughn's two singles wins came when Aly beat Ulan, 10-3 at No. 5 singles, and Dashawn Johnson downed Amine, 10-4 at No. 6. Following the victory, Berkeley College Head Coach David Eddy gave his thoughts.
"I am extremely proud of how hard the guys have worked, and it's great to see them get rewarded with their first victory," Eddy said. "We are in the midst of trying to build something here, and it's very gratifying to me to see the guys hungry to compete and show what they're made of. We'll enjoy this win for a day or two, and then we'll get back to work on Monday evening."
Berkeley College will look to make it two victories in a row on Monday evening, as the Knights will host Webb Institute in another Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match. Start-time for that contest is scheduled for 7:00pm at the USTA.
