Results

EDWARDSVILLE, Pa. – In a showdown between the top two teams in the Freedom Conference, the Manhattanville men's tennis team came up a few points short in several key matches as the Valiants were defeated by reigning conference champion Wilkes University by a deceptive 8-1 score on Thursday afternoon at the Ralston Athletic Complex.

The regular-season matchup between these two teams has determined the conference regular-season champion in each of the last three seasons, and so both teams knew the importance of the match going in. Unfortunately for the Valiants, the team got off to a tough start in doubles play and never recovered.

A strength for the team in recent weeks, Wilkes took all three doubles matches to grab an early lead. The first-doubles tandem of junior Michael Capozzi (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/San Judas Tadeo) and freshman Gabriel Pinto (Quito, Ecuador/Colegio Internacional SEK-Ecuador) came the closest to victory, coming just one break short in an 8-6 loss to Evan Katz and Wes McCollum.

Singles play also saw some close matches, but only one Valiant was able to come away with a victory. That win came at the fourth-singles flight courtesy of Pinto, who picked up a 6-3, 6-2 win over Clarke Freeman.

Despite the lopsided score, two singles matches went into supertiebreakers and two others needed a tiebreaker to decide a set, meaning that a few points in Wilkes' direction were what ultimately decided the match. Sophomore Karim Mahmoud (Cairo, Egypt/Nefertari American International School) and senior Chris Lin (White Plains, N.Y./Eastchester) both battled back from a set down to force supertiebreakers, but both came up just a few points short. Mahmoud dropped a 6-1, 5-7, 1-0 (11-9) decision to McCollum at third singles, while Lin fell by a 7-5, 5-7, 1-0 (10-7) score to Alex Makos at the sixth flight.

Capozzi had a very tough match with Jeremy Nolt at first singles before Nolt pulled out a 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) victory, while Dakkota Deem also needed a tiebreaker to get past sophomore Andres Rivera at fifth singles, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.

Manhattanville (6-4, 2-1 Freedom) will look to regroup on Saturday when the Valiants travel to Misericordia University for a 1 p.m. conference matchup.