Down 3-0, Siena Men's Tennis dug deep and rallied back for 4-3 come-from-behind victory against #2 Quinnipiac to advance to the program's first MAAC Men's Tennis Championship.
The Saints (12-10) will now play #1 Fairfield (8-9) for the MAAC Championship on Sunday at 10 a.m. at Mercer County Park Tennis Center in West Windsor, NJ with the winner claiming the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
And, for a second consecutive year, the MAAC Semifinal between Quinnipiac and Siena saw the #3 seed emerging victorious after trailing in the match.
But, this time, the roles were reversed. Last year, the Bobcats came back from a 3-1 deficit to win 4-3.
In this year's edition, it was the Saints, who completed the dramatic comeback.
The Bobcats took a 1-0 lead after doubles, edging the Saints 2-1. The Siena combo of MAAC Player of the Year,
Dante Russo, and MAAC Rookie of the Year,
Edward Vo, combined to defeat Quinnipiac's Shaurya Sood and Kemel Karagozoglu (6-1) in the No. 1 spot. The Bobcats would even doubles at 1-1 following No. 2, with a 6-3 win from Ayato Arakiki and Donovan Brown over
Agustin Suarez and
Matt Nardone.
The doubles point was clinched at the No. 3 spot by Quinnipiac via a tiebreak, with Andreas Whalen-Merediz and Csanad Nyardadi beating
Jose Pablo Davila and
Tomas del Olmo 7-6 (8-6) to give the Bobcats a 1-0 lead heading to singles.
Quinnipiac would gain a 2-0 advantage after No. 3 singles, with Sood beating Suarez (6-2, 6-3). Quinnipiac would then take a commanding 3-0 advantage with another win, this time at No. 2 singles in the form of Whalen-Merediz earning the win over del Olmo (6-1, 6-3).
Trailing 3-0, Siena would have to win the remaining singles matches. The rally began with a victory at the No. 6 singles position, with
Andrea Moro beating Csanad Nyardadi (6-2, 6-4) to put the Saints behind 3-1 and get on the scoreboard.
Then, Davila snuck by Brown (7-5, 6-4) at No. 4, to cut the match to 3-2. The Saints would knot the match up at 3-3 with the conclusion of No. 1 singles, when Russo toppled Arakiki (6-2, 7-6), forcing the contest to be decided by the last remaining match.
Russo improved to 24-6.
The deciding match, which came by way of the No. 5 singles, ended with Siena's Vo getting by Quinnipiac's Karagozoglu (6-2, 6-7, 6-1).
Vo improved to singles overall record to 22-4.
-Report courtesy of MAAC Communications Staff
RESULTS
DOUBLES
Dante Russo/
Edward Vo (SC) def. Shaurya Sood/ Kemal Karagozoglu (Q) 6-1
Ayato Arakaki/ Donovan Brown (Q) def.
Agustin Suarez/
Matt Nardone (SC) 6-3
Andreas Whalen-Merediz/Csanad Nyardadi (Q) def.
Jose Pablo Davila/
Tomas del Olmo (SC) 7-6 (8-6)
SINGLES
Russo (SC) def. Arakiki (Q) 6-2, 7-6
Whalen-Merediz (Q) def. del Olmo 6-1, 6-3
Sood (Q) def. Suarez 6-2, 6-3
Davila (SC) def. Brown (Q) 7-5, 6-4
Vo (SC) def. Karagozoglu (Q) 6-2, 6-7, 6-1
Andrea Moro (SC) def. Nyardadi (Q) 6-2, 6-4
