PURCHASE, N.Y. – For the fourth straight season, the Manhattanville University men's tennis team will be competing for a conference championship as the second-seeded Valiants defeated No. 3 USMMA in the Skyline Conference Championship Semifinals on Thursday, 5-3. The Valiants improve to 10-4 overall with the win and will meet the winner of No. 1 Farmingdale and No. 4 Yeshiva in the championship match this weekend.
The Valiants took a 2-1 lead at the end of doubles play on their home courts. In the top flight, the leading pairing of
James Hourihan (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield) and
Weston Goodwin (Freeport, Maine/Freeport) rolled past RJ Novak and Connor McQuade 8-1 to secure the first point. Soon after,
Shiel Loganadan (New York, N.Y./Mary McDowell Friends) and
Griffin Forberg (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield-Ludlowe) defeated Alex Lewis and Patrick Novotny 8-3 in No. 3s action to put the Valiants up 2-0. The Mariners avoided the doubles sweep by emerging victorious in No. 2 action, with
Carter Hunter-Crump (Denver, Colo./Centaurus) and
Derwin Guzman (Bronx, N.Y./Frederick Douglass Academy) falling to Brent Mathews and Gabby Eitkis, 4-8.
Manhattanville continued strong play as singles began, with the home team taking the first two flights that concluded to move to the brink of victory. Loganadan was the first to capture victory, handling McQuade 6-2, 6-1 in No. 4s. Guzman followed suit with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Lewis on Court No. 6. With their season hanging in the balance, USMMA battled back to take the next two decisions, with Hunter-Crump falling to Eitkis 3-6, 6-4, 0-6 on Court 5 while Forberg was bested by Novak 4-6, 5-7 in No. 3s. That sent all attention to the top two courts. Over in No. 1s, Hourihan took the first set over Mathews 6-3 and was locked in a back-and-forth second set. Meanwhile, on the next court over, Goodwin took set one over Novotny 6-2 before falling 1-6, sending the contest to a third set. While Hourihan was battling to go up 4-3 in the second set, Goodwin capped off his flight with a 6-2 decision in the third set, bringing the Valiants once again back to the Skyline Conference Finals.
Up Next
The Valiants await the decision of the other semifinals match to determine their fate. If top seeded Farmingdale wins, Manhattanville will be headed to Long Island on Saturday in a clash of the top two teams. If No. 4 Yeshiva pulls off the upset, the title match will take place in Purchase on the Manhattanville Courts, with date and time to be determined.
VALIANTS on SOCIAL MEDIA For the latest on Manhattanville Athletics, follow the Valiants via social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads and YouTube. #WeAreValiant #GoValiants
