The Berkeley College men's tennis team played last night for the first time since March 25, as the Knights fell to the Scarlet Raiders of Rutgers-Newark by a score of 8-1 at the Golden Dome Tennis Courts in Newark, NJ. With the loss, Berkeley College fell to a record of 1-2 on the 2017 campaign, while the Scarlet Raiders improved their record to 5-3 on the year.
Rutgers-Newark set the tone for the match early, capturing all three doubles flights. At No. 1 doubles, the Scarlet Raiders' combination of Ray Fan and Brandon Davis turned back the Knights' duo of Johnathan Wilson and Victor Marotta by a score of 8-1. No. 2 doubles featured the Scarlet Raiders' team of Joe Codomo and Parth Shah silence Berkeley College's Raj Ulrich Mopoundza and Alexander Maurmann, 8-0, and finally, it was Rutgers-Newark's Alan Yu and Kevin Martin outlasting the Knights' Prince Ngakala and Nicholas Echavarria, 8-6 at No. 3 doubles.
Rutgers-Newark's David won a three-set battle out of the first singles slot, as he defeated Wilson 6-0, 3-6, 6-1, and Hilal earned a shutout victory over Mopoundza at No. 3 singles (6-0, 6-0). Richard Nguyen defeated Echavarria 6-0, 6-2 at No. 4, and Wu bounced back from a tough start to down Maurmann, 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 at No. 5. Abhinav Dani beat Ngakala, 6-1, 6-1 at sixth singles.
Berkeley College's lone victory on the day came at No. 2 singles, as Marotta defeated Fan, 6-3, 6-2.
The Knights will look to get back on track on Saturday evening, as Berkeley College will take on the Steels of Culinary Institute of America in a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest. The match will take place at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, and start-time is scheduled for 7:00pm.