BLOOMSBURG, Pa. (April 22, 2011) – The Kutztown University men's tennis team won its third consecutive Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) championship by defeating Bloomsburg University, 5-1, Friday afternoon. (PHOTO GALLERY)
On an overcast and chilly morning, the Golden Bears (13-4 overall) won two of three doubles matches and three singles sets to earn their 10th crown in the last 12 years and extend their winning streak to 23 against conference foes. Fittingly for Kutztown, it was No. 1 singles player and tournament most valuable player Kaushik Das (Guwahati, Assam/National Open School) closing out the victory. His straight-set triumph over Ricky Dove allowed the Golden Bears to haul another trophy back to campus.
“This is a really great feeling for us,” Das said. “We always put pressure on ourselves to win. Everybody came through this season and this is a nice team reward. We expected the weather to be worse, but it was better than Thursday. That really helped us. We're excited with the win and now we're looking forward to regionals.”
Ranked fourth in the last NCAA Division II Atlantic Region poll, the Golden Bears are in excellent shape to receive a bid to the NCAA tournament for the 13th time under coach Suresh Ramamurthi. The selections and pairings will be announced Tuesday, April 26 at 8 p.m. on ncaasports.com. Kutztown has advanced to the Sweet 16 in each of the last two years.
The Golden Bears had to work hard for this title. The tandem of Rushi Amin (Orefield, PA/Lake Brantley) and Juan Gutierrez (San Jose, Costa Rica/SEK International School) played the most thrilling match of the day at No. 2 doubles. They eventually prevailed in a heart-stopper, 9-8, winning the tiebreaker, 8-1. As they were battling Bloomsburg's Tyler Pultro and Alan Hummel, point for point and shot for shot, the rest of the Golden Bear tennis players were standing along the fence cheering loudly with every successful stroke.
“I am very excited,” Ramamurthi said. “These guys worked hard every day and they always put up a good fight during their matches. There's no difference. We always get guys who like to fight hard on the court and come together as teammates as the season progresses. Our motto, has always been, it's not how you start but how you finish. These guys proved themselves all season.”
The Golden Bears extended their advantage to 4-1 after Andrew Zhu (Toronto, ON/Northview) breezed to a straight-set victory and last season's MVP Arijit Goswami (Kolkata, India/LSA Kolkata) edged Lee Wexler in a straight set tiebreaker. Those victories set the stage for Das. In KU's 6-3 win over Bloomsburg last week, Das dropped a three-set decision to Dove.
“Today, I just tried to stick to the basics,” Das said. “I wanted to bang the ball around and make him run for it. We feel really good about winning the title and we talked about extending the legacy of the program. That was important to everybody who took the court today.”
Friday's match belonged to Das from the start. Das took Dove's best shot and responded with a 7-5, 6-4 victory. When Dove's final shot landed long, Das turned to the crowd and stretched his hands out wide. Eventually, he disappeared under a mass of celebratory and happy bodies. Some players jumped on Joel Irwin's back as fans snapped photos.
“Kaushik knew he had to step it up big time because he'd been struggling with consistency,” Ramamurthi said. “Today, the conditions were perfect for him to step up and lead the team. He did it today. It means a lot to the other guys to see Kaushik play well. It provides a lot of positive energy for the team. I am just proud of everybody. This is a great accomplishment.”
