Results

PURCHASE, N.Y. – Just a few hours after having four of its players recognized with All-Conference laurels, the Manhattanville men's tennis team went out and showed just why as the second-seeded Valiants defeated third-seeded Eastern University, 6-0, in the semifinal round of the 2011 Freedom Conference Tournament, played on Tuesday afternoon at the Manhattanville Courts.

Manhattanville (10-4, 4-1 Freedom) advances to Saturday's Freedom Conference championship match, where the Valiants will once again face off with top-seeded Wilkes University – the third straight meeting between the two teams for the conference title. The match will begin at 1 p.m. in Edwardsville, Pa.

“The team played very well today,” said assistant coach David Slater. “The team knew what they needed to do today and took care of business against a good Eastern team. We now know what we need to do come Saturday.”

The Valiants got the day off to a good start with a sweep of the three doubles contests, giving the home team an early advantage. The newly minted two-time Freedom Conference Player of the Year, junior Michael Capozzi (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/San Judas Tadeo), teamed with freshman All-Conference first-teamer Gabriel Pinto (Quito, Ecuador/Colegio Internacional SEK-Ecuador) to put Manhattanville on the board first, as the pair defeated Michael Roth and Bryan Arnett, 8-1, at first doubles.

The team's second point came soon after, as sophomore All-Freedom second-team honoree Andres Rivera and senior Chris Lin (White Plains, N.Y./Eastchester) posted an 8-3 win over Ryan Dykstra and Jonny Shenk at the third flight. The sweep was completed at second doubles, as junior Dean Tahir (Yonkers, N.Y./Saunders) and sophomore All-Freedom first-teamer Karim Mahmoud (Cairo, Egypt/Nefertari American International School) bested Dan Wilson and Tyler Hoagland by an 8-6 score.

Up by three entering singles play, the home team made quick work of the Eagles to complete the match. Pinto put the Valiants one point from victory with an easy 6-1, 6-0 win over Hoagland at fourth singles. The matches of Mahmoud (at third singles) and Lin (at sixth singles) then finished almost simultaneously, as Lin defeated Dykstra, 6-0, 6-1, and Mahmoud beat Wilson, 6-1, 6-2, to account for the fifth and sixth points.

The final three matches were all immediately suspended after the overall match was decided, and so the singles contests of Capozzi, Tahir and Rivera went unfinished with the Valiants up a set in each.