CLAREMONT, Calif. - The
Salisbury University men's tennis team went 2-1 on their Spring
Break trip in California as the Sea Gulls faced two nationally
ranked opponents. SU defeated Colorado College 9-0 and No. 30
Pomona-Pitzer College 8-1 but lost a tough 6-3 matchup with No. 11
Bowdoin College in the final day of the trip.
Salisbury (8-1) dropped the No. 1 singles match against the
Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer but then went on to a clean sweep to win
8-1. This was the first time SU coach Randy
Halfpap beat his former team. Senior Brendan
Kincaid and junior Sasha Felikson both
claimed straight-set victories in singles play at No. 2 and No. 6,
respectively, against the Sagehens. Junior Matt
Nicholson and sophomore Evan Thomas,
ranked No. 11 in the Atlantic-South region in doubles, won their
No. 2 doubles match, 8-3.
The team of Nicholson and Thomas went undefeated over the
three-day stretch with their most lopsided victory against Bowdoin,
8-1. The Polar Bears took the No. 1 doubles match as Garrett Gates
and Stephen Sullivan, ranked No. 5 in the Northeast region,
defeated Kincaid and sophomore Scott Burtzlaff,
9-8 as Bowdoin won the tiebreaker 7-4.
Burtzlaff and freshman David Lupinetti claimed
the lone singles' victories for the Gulls. They both needed
tiebreakers to stave off the Polar Bears. Burtzlaff won 2-6, 7-5,
7-6, (7-3) over Jamie Neely, ranked No. 24 in the Northeast region.
Lupinetti held off Tyler Anderson for the 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 win.
The Sea Gulls started strong against Colorado College and did
not look back as Burtzlaff and Kincaid won 8-3 at No. 1 doubles
followed by Nicholson and Thomas at No. 2 doubles, who won 8-2.
Freshman Andrew Nottage and sophomore
Marcus Robinson finished the doubles competition
with an 8-4 win over Evan Jonker and Nick Krezcko. In singles
competition against the Tigers, SU went a combined 72-17 and never
needed a third set.
