Apr 28, 2007 MIT Captures 2007 NEWMAC Men's Tennis Championship CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Top-seeded MIT outlasted No. 2 Wheaton
College, 5-3, en route to its ninth consecutive New England Women's
and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Men's Tennis Championship.
The Engineers (13-5) and the Lyons (11-5) have met in the title
match for the past three seasons, with this year's match up being
the closest in tournament history. MIT and Wheaton posted 5-0 wins
over No. 4 Babson College and No. 3 Springfield College,
respectively, in the semifinal round.
Wheaton opened the championship match with a pair of 8-2
decisions in the No. 3 and No. 2 doubles positions. MIT's top
tandem of Thomas Dohlman and Eric
Beren defeated Payum Payman and
Brad Dressler, 8-4, to put the Engineers on the
board.
Ryan Castonia evened the match at two after his
6-0, 6-2 victory over Kyle Hudgins in the No. 6
singles slot. Steady rain forced the competition inside and
following the brief delay, Beren put MIT ahead with his 6-0, 6-3
win in the No. 2 position. Payman defeated Dohlman, 6-4, 6-2, in
the No. 1 position which tied the match at three. Melvin
Makhni gave the Engineers the lead for good following his
6-4, 6-2 decision over Raymour Radhakrishnan. In
the No. 4 spot, Peden Nichols won the first set
against Will Stoddard, 6-1, but fell 7-6 in the
second set. Nichols bounced back with a 6-2 victory to secure the
title. The only unfinished match of the day was in the No. 3 slot,
where MIT's Mark Egan was leading Dressler, 2-6,
7-5, 5-0.
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