SATKOWSKI AND GILLARD EARN SINGLES TITLES; ABERNETHY AND BENSON TAKE "B DOUBLES" BRACKET

Sept. 23: St. Lawrence University junior Jon Satkowski, first year student Ryan Gillard and the doubles team of senior Adam Benson and junior Pete Abernethy all won their respective flights at the 2007 Fall Classic on Sunday afternoon. Satkowski was the “A Singles” winner, while Gillard was victorious in the “C Singles” flight. Benson and Abernethy joined forces to win the “B Doubles” draw.

Satkowski won his semifinal match against Ithaca’s Josh Rifkin 7-6 (2), 6-2, advancing to meet Rifkin’s teammate Taylor Borda in the “A Singles” finale. Trailing 5-2 in the first set, Satkowski was able to dig out of his deficit and win the set in a tiebreaker, 7-3. However, the Salisbury Mills, NY native began to cramp in the second set, and Borda capitalized with a 6-2 victory in the second set.

Though he was struggling, Satkowski was able to put together several key rallies, and using his speed and hard forehand, defeated Borda in the super-breaker 10-3.

In the “C Singles” draw, Gillard continued his impressive play with a 6-1, 6-2 semifinal win against Josh Goldstein from RIT. His win pitted him against Henry Ciocca from Hamilton College for the “C Singles” title. Though Gillard won the first set 6-2, Ciocca made a match of it despite being down 5-2 in the second set, pulling to within one game. However, Gillard reasserted himself and clinched his first collegiate singles title with a 7-5 second set win.

The St. Lawrence team of Benson and Abernethy met fellow first year teammates Ren Gates and Gillard for the “B Doubles” championship. The experienced upperclassmen outlasted the rookies by the score of 8-5 to win the draw.

The Saints were also represented in each of the other two finals matches, as sophomore Chris McDonald fell to Ithaca’s Liam Berkowitz 6-1, 6-4 in the “B Singles” bracket and the sophomore pairing of Christopher Tamm and Chris Rodilosso dropped the “A Doubles” flight to Rochester’s Brian Bowman and Ryan Kovaleski, 8-5.

The Saints will return to the courts next weekend for the final tournament of the fall season at the ITA Tournament hosted by Vassar College. The three-day event kicks off on Friday, September 28th and concludes on Sunday, September 30th.

SAINTS IMPRESSIVE ON OPENING

DAY OF 2007 FALL CLASSIC

Sept. 22: The St. Lawrence University men’s tennis team played host to Day 1 of the 2007 Fall Classic on Saturday, as the Saints hosted Ithaca, Nazareth, Rochester, RIT and Hamilton in the annual event. Senior co-captain Jon Satkowski advanced to the semifinals of the “A Singles” bracket, and also reached the semis in the “A Doubles” with rookie teammate Will Cook.

Satkowski, who was 2-1 in single’s play at last weekend’s Flower City Tournament, continued his impressive play on Saturday. He defeated Ryan Kovaleski of Rochester 6-4, 5-7 (10-8) to advance to the quarterfinals of the “A Singles” division, where he downed Ithaca’s Alex Stoler 6-2, 6-4. He will meet Ithaca’s Josh Rifkin in the semifinals tomorrow morning, as Rifkin advanced by defeating Rochester’s Bennett Peterson in straight sets.

Also representing St. Lawrence in singles play on Sunday will be sophomore Chris McDonald, who is alive in the “B Singles’ flight and first year students Ryan Gillard and Jake Dexter remain in the “C Singles” bracket. McDonald will face Rochester’s Patrick Sheehan in the semifinals after defeating Ithaca’s Jeff Buffum 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6).

Gillard made his collegiate singles play debut count, as he knocked off Seth Magnani of Ithaca with ease (6-2, 6-1) before eliminating Hamilton’s Mike Moreno, 7-6 (1), 6-4. On the bottom half of the “C Singles” bracket, Dexter, who went a perfect 4-0 on the afternoon, swept his singles matches against Ithaca’s Steve Ochs (2-6, 6-4 (11-9)) and Rochester’s Adam Crosby (6-2, 6-3).

St. Lawrence will also be well represented in doubles play when the tournament resumes on Sunday morning, as five of the six pairs remain in the brackets. An intriguing inter-squad match will take place in the “A Doubles” semifinals when Satkowski and Cook meet sophomores Christopher Tamm and Chris Rodilosso.

In the “B Doubles” bracket, all three of the St. Lawrence duos will be in action, as the Scarlet and Brown was 6-0 in the draw. Senior Adam Benson and junior Pete Abernethy won both of their matches 8-2, with wins coming against Ithaca’s Buffman/Berkowitz pair and Rochester’s Socash and Demas. Benson and Abernethy will face RIT’s John Traver and Josh Goldstein for the right to play in the “B Doubles” final.

In the bottom half of the bracket, it is an all-St. Lawrence semifinal, as the rookie duo of Gillard and Gates will take on senior co-captain Amin Danai and Dexter.

Play will resume in the St. Lawrence University Fall Classic at 9:00am on Sunday, September 2 rd at both the Sammis Tennis Courts and the Newell Field House.