KUTZTOWN, Pa. (April 7, 2011) – With another Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) title in its sights, the Kutztown University men's tennis team has raised the level of its performances lately. Kutztown continued its dominant start through conference competition by defeating Millersville University, 9-0, Thursday afternoon.
The Golden Bears (8-3 overall, 3-0 PSAC) are rolling. Ranked fifth in the first NCAA Atlantic Regional rankings, Kutztown won its third straight match behind a sterling team performance. Kutztown had to wait to extra days to face the Marauders because of the wet weather that stubbornly refused to leave the area.
Kutztown's top two doubles tandems of Kauskik Das/Arijit Goswami (Kolkata, India/LSA Kolkata) and Tim Roenning (Hole, Norway/Norwegian College of Top Athletes)/Andrew Zhu (Toronto, ON/Northview) got the Golden Bears moving in the right direction. They claimed 8-6 decisions in their doubles matches. That was the springboard for the singles' triumphs. Kutztown won five of the six singles matches in straight sets.
“All of the guys are really stepping up,” Kutztown head men's tennis coach Suresh Ramamurthi said. “The guys are really focused on the rest of the regular season, which includes matches against Bloomsburg and a pair of regionally ranked teams. They know they had to be ready to play today against Millersville because it wasn't going to be easy.”
The Golden Bears are in decent shape in the regional rankings, but know with more performances like Thursday, they will be preparing for postseason tennis again. According to Ramamurthi, the Golden Bears' top doubles tandem of Das and Goswami are just starting to find their groove. Cameron O'Donnell (Allentown, PA/Parkland) and Zhu have improved tremendously since the start of the season.
“We still have a long way to go, but I like the steady improvement in everybody since the start of the year,” Ramamuthi said. “I believe that once Arijit and Kaushik start clicking, they're going to hard to beat.”
The Golden Bears travel to West Chester University Saturday morning for a conference match starting at 11 a.m.
Singles
1. Kaushik Das (Guwahati, Assam/National Open School) (KUTZM) def. Preetham Moras (MILL-M) 6-2, 6-3
2. Juan Gutierrez (San Jose, Costa Rica/SEK International School) (KUTZM) def. Drew Slocum (MILL-M) 6-2, 6-4
3. Arijit Goswami (Kolkata, India/LSA Kolkata) (KUTZM) def. Donald Swantko (MILL-M) 6-2, 6-1
4. Rushi Amin (Orefield, PA/Lake Brantley) (KUTZM) def. Tyler Reppert (MILL-M) 6-4, 5-0, retired
5. Andrew Zhu (Toronto, ON/Northview) (KUTZM) def. Henry Ben (MILL-M) 6-7, 6-3, 10-5
6. Cameron O'Donnell (Allentown, PA/Parkland) (KUTZM) def. Corey Garnier (MILL-M) 7-6, 6-1
Doubles
1. Kaushik Das (Guwahati, Assam/National Open School)/Arijit Goswami (Kolkata, India/LSA Kolkata) (KUTZM) def. Preetham Moras/Drew Slocum (MILL-M) 8-6
2. Tim Roenning (Hole, Norway/Norwegian College of Top Athletes)/Andrew Zhu (Toronto, ON/Northview) (KUTZM) def. Donald Swantko/Tyler Reppert (MILL-M) 8-6
3. Rushi Amin (Orefield, PA/Lake Brantley)/Juan Gutierrez (San Jose, Costa Rica/SEK International School) (KUTZM) def. Ryan Knarr/Henry Ben (MILL-M) 8-4
SOCIAL MEDIA ALERT: **The Kutztown University Athletic Department would like to remind Golden Bear fans and followers there are many ways they can follow their favorite team. One can follow the Golden Bears via Facebook, SMS messages and weekly newsletters. One can also check out the photo galleries.
The Facebook page is a good opportunities for Kutztown fans to be updated through the social media. It is also a great chance for fans to show their support with comments and interaction.
Become a fan on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Kutztown-University-Athletics/24879209924
SMS messages are a good way to get Kutztown news no matter where one is located. One can sign up to get news from any or every sport at Kutztown. Fans will receive final scores as well as special awards and honors earned by Golden Bear teams and student- athletes. Sign up at http://www.kubears.com/member/sms_signup.aspx.
You can also get a weekly newsletter of Kutztown highlights delivered straight to your inbox by signing up at http://www.kubears.com/subscribe.aspx
Photos are available through photo galleries from the last two years at Kutztown. Simply go to http://www.kubears.com/photo_gallery.aspx and choose which sport one would like to view. Galleries are broken down by sports, seasons and games.
The Kutztown University sports information department hopes that everyone has enjoyed all of the new ways to keep up with their favorite team. The SID department hopes people will continue to take advantage of the great resources available.
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