2008 Woodie Awards
Men's tennis top seed in MAC champtionship
Laura Moss
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What will it take to stop the Rangers men's tennis team from cruising to their fifth consecutive Mid-Atlantic Conference championship tomorrow?
An upset.
Not just an upset, but the first upset in almost half a decade. It's been four complete seasons, and most of the current one, since a conference opponent has been able the pull off a win against the powerhouse from Drew, and the Rangers are not likely to let it happen in the biggest match of the 2005 season.
That's why a conference championship plaque is poised to hang at Drew University and the Rangers are poised to take it.
Drew claimed their finals spot with a semifinal win over DeSales University on Thursday. The Rangers' 6-1 victory ousted Desales from the conference tournament.
Junior Michael Almazan won the Bulldogs sole match, defeating freshman Jason Swenson 7-6, 7-5 in No. 1 singles. Almazan is one of the top singles players in the conference, so the loss was nothing to be embarrassed about.
Every other Ranger won in singles play, and Drew took two of three doubles matches to earn the doubles point. No. 1 doubles pair of sophomore Josh Rucker and senior captain Ryan McDonald eeked out a victory 9-8, but the other doubles matches were heavily in favor of Drew.
Despite the neck-and-neck No. 1 doubles match, the team's win was no surprise. Drew, who was 6-0 in conference play going into the match, defeated the Bulldogs 5-2 earlier in the season.
The Rangers' last regular season victory was a 5-2 rout of Wilkes University on Sunday. After dropping the first two singles matches, McDonald, freshman Vik Rao, sophomore Ross Lieblich and freshman Jon Pivor all completed 2-set wins at third, fourth, fifth and sixth singles. The Rangers went on to win the doubles point with victories at first and third.
Rao and Pivor both ended the regular season 10-2 in singles play and 12-0 in doubles play. The freshman pair should be a foreboding opponent for the next three years, especially as they move up the ranks to first and second doubles.
Drew will face the winner of Wilkes (second seed) and FDU-Florham (third seed) on Saturday for the conference title. Since they clinched the top seed, they will get home team advantage in the finals.