Results

EDWARDSVILLE, Pa. – The third time did not prove to be the charm for the Manhattanville men's tennis team on Saturday afternoon in the quest for an elusive conference title, as the second-seeded Valiants were defeated by top-seeded Wilkes University in the championship round of the Freedom Conference Tournament for the third straight season, 5-1, at the Ralston Athletic Complex.

Manhattanville (10-5, 4-1 Freedom) has its season come to a close at the hands of Wilkes for the fourth straight year overall and third in a row in the title match, while Wilkes (11-3, 5-0 Freedom) will advance to the NCAA Division III Tournament with the win.

Unlike the two previous title matches between the two teams, Saturday's match was missing most of the drama, as Wilkes jumped out to an early doubles lead and quickly gained an advantage in singles play to end the afternoon early.

The Colonels took a 2-1 lead after doubles, as Clarke Freeman and Alex Matos handed sophomore Andres Rivera and senior Chris Lin (White Plains, N.Y./Eastchester) an 8-4 defeat at third doubles to get the scoring started. Jeremy Nolt and Dakkota Deem doubled the Wilkes lead with a hard-fought 8-6 win over sophomore Karim Mahmoud (Cairo, Egypt/Nefertari American International School) and junior Dean Tahir (Yonkers, N.Y./Saunders) at second doubles.

The Valiants finally got on the board at the top doubles flight, where junior Michael Capozzi (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/San Judas Tadeo) and freshman Gabriel Pinto (Quito, Ecuador/Colegio Internacional SEK-Ecuador) bested Evan Katz and Wes McCollum by an 8-5 score.

Things got no better for Manhattanville in singles play, as Wilkes won at second, third and sixth singles to close out the match. Makos was the first to finish with an easy 6-0, 6-0 win over Lin at the sixth flight, while Katz defeated Tahir, 6-1, 6-4, at second singles and McCollum clinched the title with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Mahmoud at third singles.

The three remaining matches were immediately suspended once the final verdict was clinched. Pinto was up a set on Deem at fourth singles, while Capozzi was up in the second against Nolt at first singles and Rivera was beating Freeman in the second set of their fifth-singles match.