PURCHASE, N.Y. – For the fourth time in the last six seasons, the Manhattanville Valiants and Farmingdale State Rams meet at the end of the Skyline Conference Championship road. It'll be the conference's top two seeds matching up on the court on Friday afternoon in Purchase, with the winner raising the Skyline Championship trophy and headed on to the NCAA Tournament later in May.
Men's Tennis Preview: No. 1 Manhattanville University vs No. 2 Farmingdale State College | Skyline Conference Championship Finals | Friday, 1 p.m.
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How We Got Here
The top seeds prevailed in Wednesday's semifinal action, with both the Valiants and Rams winning in 4-0 sweeps.
In Purchase, the Valiants took down No. 4 Yeshiva by nabbing the doubles point with a 6-0 victory by top pairing
Elouan Charretteur (Fontainebleau, France/Lycée International Francois Premier 1er) and
Kazuma Kato (Nerima, Tokyo, Japan/Aioi Gakuin) ahead of a 6-3 victory by No. 2s
Thomas Jouanneau (Luneville, France/Lycee Arago) and
Derwin Guzman (Bronx, N.Y./Frederick Douglass Academy). Manhattanville's top three singles players—Jouanneau, Kato and Charretteur—completed the win by winning the leading three flights each in two sets.
Over in Farmingdale, the Rams had similar success against No. 3 USMMA. Farmingdale took doubles with a 6-1 win by Luke Plana and Emil Sabovic in No. 3s play ahead of Kwaku Agyeman and Henri Pothier collecting a 6-3 victory in No. 2s. Agyeman (No. 2s), Michael Lerman (No. 3s) and Jordan Gonzales (No. 6s) notched the singles victories needed to send the three-time reigning conference champs back to the finals in search of a fourth-straight title.
Last Time Out
The Valiants and Rams ran through the Skyline Conference all season long, with the deciding factor in the seeding coming in their regular season meeting on April 14. Down on Long Island, Manhattanville held on for a 4-3 victory, the lone conference match either team surrendered more than one point.
Manhattanville swept doubles to earn the crucial opening point as the teams went on to split the six singles flights. The Valiants got wins once again from the top three flights of Jouanneau, Kato and Charretteur, with the top two matchups both needing third sets to decide a winner.
Farmingdale earned singles wins from Lerman, Pothier and Zindani.
Postseason History
The two teams are familiar dance partners on the championship stage. Since the Valiants returned to the Skyline Conference in 2020, Manhattanville and Farmingdale have met in the men's tennis finals three times. The Rams won all three of the previous championship matches, earning a 5-4 win in 2024, a 5-2 victory in 2023, and a 5-4 win in 2021.
Manhattanville is seeking its first conference championship since 2022 when the Valiants defeated Yeshiva 5-4.
Team Leaders
Manhattanville
- Charretteur: 13-7 Singles, 13-6 Doubles
- Jouanneau: 12-6 Singles, 14-5 Doubles
- Kato: 11-2 Singles, 11-2 Doubles
- Guzman: 10-8 Singles, 12-7 Doubles
Farmingdale
- Melandro: 6-6 Singles, 4-7 Doubles
- Ahmed: 7-7 Singles, 4-7 Doubles
- Agyeman: 9-6 Singles, 11-6 Doubles
- Lerman: 8-6 Singles, 3-3 Doubles
History
- All-Time Record vs Farmingdale: 5-5
- Streak: W1
- Series Record at Manhattanville: 2-3
- Last Five Meetings (Home team listed second):
- 4/14/26: Manhattanville 4, Farmingdale 3
- 4/13/25: Farmingdale 7, Manhattanville 0
- 5/4/24: Manhattanville 4, Farmingdale 5 (Skyline Finals)
- 4/23/24: Manhattanville 3, Farmingdale 6
- 4/28/23: Farmingdale 5, Manhattanville 2 (Skyline Finals)
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