HILTON HEAD, S.C. (March 11, 2011) – The Kutztown University men's tennis team concluded its South Carolina spring break trip with a huge 7-2 triumph over the University of Charleston Friday morning. Ranked third in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Atlantic Region poll, Charleston had its eight-match winning streak ended by the Golden Bears.
Kutztown (4-2 overall) won five of the six singles matches and two of the three doubles matches to earn a very important victory against an in-region opponent.
“I am very happy with this victory because this was an important match for us,” Kutztown head tennis coach Suresh Ramamurthi said. “They players were also happy. They stepped up and were focused during the entire match.”
Kutztown's only setback during this road trip was to Wingate, ranked No. 38 in the ITA Division II top 50 poll. The Golden Bears' match against 39th-ranked Limestone Thursday morning was rained out. The Golden Bears got going against Charleston as their No. 1 doubles team of Kaushik Das (Guwahati, Assam/National Open School) and Arijit Goswami (Kolkata, India/LSA Kolkata) battled to an 8-6 victory. Rushi Amin (Orefield, PA/Lake Brantley) and Juan Gutierrez (San Jose, Costa Rica/SEK International School) were 8-3 winners at No. 3 doubles.
Das, Gutierrez, Amin, Andrew Zhu (Toronto, ON/Northview), and Cameron O'Donnell (Allentown, PA/Parkland) were all straight set singles winners for the Golden Bears.
“We made some changes to our doubles team and they came up large,” Ramamurthi said. “I think it was a good experience for us to play against some strong teams. This was an eye opener for the guys. They realized what they have to work on to get stronger and ready for regionals.”
Kutztown returns to action when it hosts Eastern University in its home opener on Friday, March 18 at 3:30 p.m.
Kutztown 7, Charleston 2
Singles
Kaushik Das (Guwahati, Assam/National Open School) (K) d. Sam Humphrey, 6-3, 6-4
Matt Sherba (C) d. Arijit Goswami (Kolkata, India/LSA Kolkata), 6-3, 6-4
Juan Gutierrez (San Jose, Costa Rica/SEK International School) (K) d. Kyle Barrett, 6-2, 6-3
Rushi Amin (Orefield, PA/Lake Brantley) (K) d. Rico Williams, 6-2, 6-3
Andrew Zhu (Toronto, ON/Northview) (K) d. Kris Riede, 6-1, 6-2
Cameron O'Donnell (Allentown, PA/Parkland) (K) d. Eric Bodge, 6-1, 6-2
Doubles
Das/Goswami (K) d. Humphries/Barrett, 8-6
Williams/Sherba (C) d. O'Donnell/Tim Roening, 9-8 tiebreaker
Amin/Gutierrez d. Bodge/Riede, 8-3
