Complete Results
In their final match of the season, the New York University men's tennis team was narrowly defeated 5-4 by the University of Rochester on Saturday, April 28 in the seventh-place match of the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship in Altamonte Springs, FL.
The Violets, who came into this match as the seventh seed, finish the 2017-18 season with a 5-10 record. The eighth-seeded Yellowjackets end their season 8-13.
"It was a tough loss," said Head Coach
Horace Choy. "You never want to end the season on a loss."
The Violets were at the disadvantage of running a reshuffled lineup Saturday due to a couple of injuries.
NYU got off to a great start in the doubles round.
Joshua Piatos and
Vishal Walia (#3) made quick work of their opponents (8-2), while
Michael Li and
Benedict Teoh (#2) had a much tougher match, but one in which they ultimately came out on top (8-5). The Violets came close to sweeping the doubles round, but
Zeb Zheng and
Umberto Setter (#1) wound up losing an incredibly close match 9-8.
The Violets played well in the singles round, as well. Zheng (#4) had a solid match which he won 6-2, 7-5. Setter (#45 nationally) played just as well at #1 and won his match 6-2, 7-5. The squad came close to securing two more victories after strong performances from
Aaron Mackie (#5) and Piatos (#6). Mackie swept the first set, but couldn't hold on to close out the match (0-6, 6-2, 6-4). Piatos mounted a good comeback for a second-set victory, but fell in the third after a close tiebreaker (6-4, 4-6, 7-5).
"We had some guys step up and compete hard," added Choy. "Both teams' players were cramping at the end and Rochester was able to pull it out."
With their season now over, the Violets will look to 2018-19 for improvement and to reclaim their national ranking.
