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PSAC Individual Tennis Championships: Day Two

Wednesday, September 11, 2013 1:47 PM

DAY TWO RECAP

MEN'S RECAP courtesy of Kutztown Sports Information

BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – Varun Desai was crowned both the singles and doubles champion at the 2013 PSAC Individual Men's Tennis Championship this weekend held at Bloomsburg University.
 
Desai paired up with teammate Rushi Amin to defend last year's doubles title, squaring off against Bloomsburg's Mike DiSanto and Denis Ikeriji. The KU duo won the final 8-4, after beating fellow Golden Bears Matthew Maguire and Rich Lichtenwalner in Saturday's semifinal (8-5).
 
The singles tournament semifinals commenced afterwards as Desai was the only KU player still left in the hunt. Desai took down Robert Rizea from Mercyhurst 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinal match. On the other side of the bracket, Mercyhurst's Travis Beck topped Millersville's Jody Sambrick in the second semifinal match in a second set tie-breaker (6-3, 7-6 (7-3)). Beck upset Kutztown top-seed Amin in the first round on Saturday.
 
Desai carried his dominance into the singles final, easing past Beck in straight sets (6-0, 6-2) to be crowned the champion. Desai also made it to last year's PSAC singles finals, only to fall to teammate Amin 0-6, 0-6.

WOMEN'S RECAP courtesy of California Sports Information

BLOOMSBURG, Pa. (Sept. 15) – The California University of Pennsylvania women's tennis team swept both titles at the 2013 PSAC Individual Tennis Championship for the seventh-consecutive time, as senior Lucie Sipkova repeated as the singles champion and teamed with junior Lucie Rey for the second-straight year to claim the doubles crown.

Sipkova became the first Cal U player to win the league singles title in back-to-back seasons since 2008-09. She opened the tournament as the top seed and posted a 5-0 record at the fall championship event. The reigning PSAC West Athlete of the Year, Sipkova collected a pair of 6-0, 6-0 victories before earning a 6-2, 6-0 victory against Edinboro's Oranza Carrilo in the quarterfinals. She dealt a 6-0, 6-1 defeat to Tanya Timko of IUP in the semifinals before earning the title over teammate Ramona Czakon by a score of 6-7, 6-2, 10-2.

Rey and Sipkova recorded four victories as the top seed in the doubles flight, becoming the first Cal U doubles team to repeat as the league champion in recent program history. The Cal U duo earned a pair of 8-0 victories in the first two rounds before outlasting Nikolina Grbac and Sarah Joumond of Slippery Rock by a 8-3 count in the semifinals. Rey and Sipkova closed the tournament by posting an 8-2 victory against teammates and second-seeded Czakon and sophomore Alexandra Borgenhoff.

Czakon entered the weekend as the second-seeded singles player and finished with a 4-1 mark after falling to Sipkova in the championship match. Rey posted a 2-1 record before losing to Czakon in the quarterfinals.

In the doubles flight, Czakon and Borgenhoff tallied a 3-1 mark before falling to teammates Rey and Sipkova in the finals.


DAY ONE RECAP

Bloomsburg, Pa. – Day one of the men and women’s PSAC Individual Tennis Championship took place on Saturday at Bloomsburg University.
 
MEN’S RECAP
 
In men’s singles play Mercyhurst’s Travis Beck defeated reigning PSAC Athlete of the Year Rushi Amin of Kutztown in the opening round 4-6, 6-4, 10-3. Beck followed it with a 6-4. 6-2 win over teammate Daniel Gimenez to become a semifinalist.
 
Beck’s teammate Robert Rizea is also a semifinalist in the singles bracket, after beating Amir Talab of Edinboro and Matt Maguire of Kutztown.
 
Millersville’s Jody Sambrick is another semifinalist and surrendered just three games in each of his two Saturday matches.
 
The 2012 PSAC singles runner-up Varun Desai of Kutztown is the remaining men’s semifinalist. After winning his opening round 6-1, 6-0, Desai edged-out Bruno Borja of Edinboro 6-3 and 7-6 in the quarterfinals.
 
Millersville’s Sambrick is slated to play Beck, while Rizea is set to face Desai in the semifinals.
 
Defending PSAC Doubles Champion Amin and Desai of Kutztown will play against Bloomsburg’s Mike DiSanto and Denis Ikejiri for the PSAC doubles title on Sunday.
 
Amin and Desai defeated Rizea and Beck from Mercyhurst in the opening round (8-3) and then beat teammates Maguire and Rich Lichtenwalner in the semifinals 8-5.
 
DiSanto and Ikeriji posted an 8-5 victory over Edinboro’s Kody Duncan and Amir Talab in the doubles opening round. The Bloomsburg duo followed it with an 8-4 victory over another Edinboro pair, Borja and Brandon Romain.
 

WOMEN’S RECAP
 
All four 2013 women’s singles semifinalists were also the semifinalists during the 2012 PSAC Individual Tennis Championship.
 
Defending PSAC singles champion Lucie Sipkova of California is a semifinalist after defeating Taylor Billington of Cheyney, Rachel Wood of IUP and Oranza Carrillo of Edinboro.
 
Sipkova’s teammate Ramona Czakon is also a semifinalist in the singles bracket after defeating West Chester’s Maddy Shaak, Bloomsburg’s Maddie Graziani, and fellow teammate Lucie Rey.
 
IUP’s Tanya Timko fought her way to the semifinals with wins over Megan Hudak and Lauren Duffy of Seton Hill as well as a 7-6 (4), 7-5 quarterfinal win over Slippery Rock’s Nikolina Grbac.  
 
Mercyhurst’s Caroline Bristol defeated West Chester’s Nicole Fahringer, IUP’s Abby McCormick and Kutztown’s Hannah Pipkin to become a semifinalist in the singles competition.
 
California’s Sipkova is slated to play Timko, while Bristol will face Czakon.
 
The doubles bracket has been narrowed to four remaining teams, including California, Slippery Rock, IUP and another California pair.
 
California’s Rey and Sipkova will play against Slippery Rock’s Grbac and Sarah Joumond, while IUP’s Timko and McCormick will face Czakon and Alexandra Borgenhoff of California in the semifinals.
 
Sunday’s Schedule
 
8:30 am
Women's doubles semifinals (2 courts)
Men's doubles finals   (1 court)

10:00
Women's doubles finals (1 court)
Men's singles semi          (2 courts)

11:00  or asap
Women's singles semi (2 courts)

12:00
Men's finals  (1 court)

1:00
Women's singles finals (1 court)
 


PREVIEW STORY

Bloomsburg, Pa. – The PSAC Individual Tennis Championship for both men and women will be contested this weekend at Bloomsburg University. Play will begin on Saturday, September 14, at 10:00 a.m. and run through Sunday afternoon.
 
The men’s singles bracket consists of three players from last season’s semifinalist teams (West Chester, Edinboro, Kutztown, Mercyhurst) plus two athletes from the remaining teams. 2012 PSAC Men’s Singles Champion Rushi Amin of Kutztown returns to the bracket for his senior season as the returning PSAC Athlete of the Year. A season ago, No. 1 seed Amin defeated his teammate No. 2 Varun Desai for the title. Millersville’s Jody Sambrick is the third seed, while Mercyhurst’s Robert Rizea is the No. 4 seed.

A total of 10 athletes are repeats from the 2012 men's singles bracket, including three of the four 2012 semifinalists - Desai, Amin, and Rizea.  
 
Men's Singles Bracket
 
Eight double’s teams, comprised of one team from each school and two from the previous year’s top two teams (Kutztown, Edinboro) make up the men’s doubles bracket. Amin and Desai return in 2013 as the defending PSAC Men’s Tennis Doubles Championship pair. Mercyhurst’s Rizea and Travis Beck also return as last season’s runner-up doubles team.
 
Men's Doubles Bracket
 
On the women’s side, the singles bracket is a 32-player draw consisting of three players from each of the 2012 postseason qualifying teams (California (Pa.), Kutztown, Millersville, IUP) plus two athletes from the remaining teams. Lucie Sipkova of California, last season's singles champion and PSAC West Athlete of the Year, returns as the No. 1 seed with teammate Ramona Czakon holding the second seed.
 
Slippery Rock’s Nicolina Grbac is the third seed, while Mercyhurst’s Caroline Bristol is the fourth seed. Seeds five through eight were given to IUP’s Tanya Timko, California’s Lucie Rey, Kutztown’s Hannah Pipkin, and Edinboro’s Oranza Carrillo.

Half of the 2012 individual championship bracket returns for the 2013 championship. Of the four 2012 semifinalists, Rey, Bristol and Sipkova will play this weekend. 
 
Women's Singles Bracket
 
The 16-team doubles bracket consists of two pairs from the previous year’s top two squads (California, IUP) plus one doubles team from the remaining teams. Rey and Sipkova of California will be playing for their second-straight doubles title.
 
Women's Doubles Bracket
 
The complete schedule for the individual championships is below.

Saturday

10:00 am
Women’s Doubles round of 16
Men’s Doubles round of 8
Any women’s singles matches if not involved in doubles

11:30 or asap
Women’s doubles round of 8
Men’s doubles round of 4
Women’s singles that are available
Men’s singles that are available

1:15
Women’s singles round of 32 (13 courts)

2:00
Any remaining women’s singles round of 32
Men’s singles round of 16

3:00
Women’s singles round of 16 (8 courts)

4:00
Men’s singles round of 8 (4 courts)

5:00
women’s singles round of 8 (4 courts)

Sunday

8:30 am
Women’s doubles semifinals (2 courts)
Men’s doubles finals   (1 court)

10:00
Women’s doubles finals (1 court)
Men’s singles semi          (2 courts)

11:00  or asap
Women’s singles semi (2 courts)

12:00
Men’s finals  (1 court)

1:00
Women’s singles finals (1 court)