SAINTS SWEEP STATESMEN TO EARN THIRD PLACE

IN LIBERTY LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS

April 20: The No. 16 St. Lawrence University men’s tennis team swept Hobart College 9-0 on Sunday morning in the 2008 Liberty League Tournament’s Third Place match. After the host school won each of the competitive doubles matches by the score of 8-6, the Saints won five of the six singles matches in straight sets to clinch third place.

Sophomores Christopher Tamm and Chris Rodilosso gave St. Lawrence the opening point of the match with an 8-6 win at No. 3 doubles over Hobart’s Adam Cohn and Will Tucker. First year students Ryan Gillard and Will Cook weren’t far behind with the second point at No. 2 doubles, defeating Matt Chin and Zach Schulz by the same tally.

In what proved to be a very tightly contested No. 1 doubles match, it was St. Lawrence’s tandem of junior Jon Satkowski and sophomore Chris McDonald that held on for a critical 8-6 win over the Statesmen’s pairing of Charlie Davis and Harry King. Though Hobart ’s duo made a run late in the match, McDonald and Satkowski were each able to hold their serves to pick up the point.

Using the momentum they built in doubles, the Saints stormed through the singles matches to ensure themselves of the win. Satkowski fended off Davis at the No. 1 spot, 6-3, 6-0, while McDonald, Cook, Gillard and senior co-captain Amin Danai all won their matches in straight sets.

In the final singles match, junior Pete Abernethy dropped the first set to Hobart ’s Cohn, 6-3. After falling behind 4-1 in the second set, though, Abernethy rattled off five straight games to win the second set and force a third set tie break. With the two players tied at 9-9, Abernethy was able to hold serve and win the following point to take the match 3-6, 6-4, 11-9 and give St. Lawrence a 9-0 sweep.

“I’m proud of the way our guys competed this weekend,” said Saints head coach Jeremy Freeman. “After a tough loss to Skidmore yesterday, I though we responded well and kept our focus. We’ll look to do the same for our remaining three matches this season.”

The No. 2 seeded Skidmore won the 2008 Liberty League title with a 6-3 win over No. 1 Vassar following the Third Place match. It is the third win in four years for the Thoroughbreds.

The Scarlet and Brown will welcome Hamilton College to Canton for a dual-match on Wednesday, April 23 for the final home match of the season. The Saints then head to Union and Oneonta to close out the 2008 schedule.

SKIDMORE ADVANCES TO LIBERTY LEAGUE

TITLE MATCH WITH 7-2 WIN OVER SAINTS

April. 19: The No. 3 seeded St. Lawrence University men’s tennis team advanced to the 2008 Liberty League Semifinals on Saturday with a 9-0 win against No. 6 Rensselaer in the Newell Field House. However, the Saints dropped their semifinal match-up to No. 2 seed Skidmore 7-2, sending the Thoroughbreds to Sunday’s Championship match and the host team to the Third Place dual.

The Scarlet and Brown swept the Red Hawks for the second consecutive match to set up a showdown with Skidmore. Senior Jon Satkowski and sophomore Chris McDonald teamed to beat Ed Cullen and Rohit Kumar at No. 1 doubles, while the rookie duo of Will Cook and Ryan Gillard knocked off Alex Franz and Evan Creer 8-0.

Sophomores Chris Rodilosso and Christopher Tamm disposed of Rensselaer ’s No. 3 doubles squad of Jamie Fitzgerald and Mike Albert to take a 3-0 lead.

The Saints continued to execute in singles play, racking up six straight victories to close out the match. Satkowski outplayed Cullen at the top singles spot, 6-0, 6-0, while junior Pete Abernethy beat Kumar, 6-2, 6-0 in the No. 2 slot. McDonald, Cook and Gillard added straight set wins over Franz, Adam Generale and Creer, respectively, while senior co-captain Amin Danai closed the scoring with a 6-0, 6-3 win at No. 6 singles against Joey Redmond.

In the semifinal match at the outdoor Sammis Tennis Courts, it was Skidmore that used their depth in doubles play to take a 2-1 lead after having the first round bye. Carl-Eric Girardin and Cam Clark knocked off Gillard and Cook at No. 2 doubles, while Spencer Cheng and Lorenzo Cabrera beat Rodilosso and Tamm 8-5 in the No. 3 slot.

Satkowski and McDonald cut the deficit in half, though, with an impressive 8-6 win against Skidmore’s top doubles pairing of Jared Karlebach and Yahia Imam.

The Thoroughbreds responded in singles play, however, to fend off the Saints and advance to tomorrow’s championship match. After Abernethy evened the match at 2-2 with a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 2 singles against Karlebach, Skidmore ran off five straight wins to close the match with a 7-2 victory. Imam was too much for McDonald at the No. 3 slot, winning 6-3, 6-2, while Cheng and Cabrera had straight set wins over Cook and Gillard, respectively.

Skidmore’s TJ David held on for a 6-4 first set win and coasted to a 6-1 win in the second to beat Danai at the No. 6 position, while Girardin held off a late rally by Satkowski to win in straight sets at No. 1, 6-2, 7-5.

St. Lawrence will play the loser of No. 1 Vassar and No. 4 Hobart in the Third Place match tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. at the Sammis Tennis Courts, while Skidmore awaits the winner of that showdown for the 2008 Liberty League title.