MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (May 1, 2011) – The Kutztown University men's tennis team rallied to defeat Bloomsburg University, 5-4, in a NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional match at the Ridgeview Racquet Club Sunday evening. (TENNIS TOURNAMENT CENTRAL)
The third-seeded Golden Bears (14-4 overall) will meet second-seeded and host West Virginia Wesleyan (16-1) Monday afternoon starting at 2 p.m. West Virginia Wesleyan defeated seventh-seeded Millersville, 5-0. The winner will advance to the Sweet 16 in Altamonte Springs (Florida). Kutztown dropped a 5-2 decision to the Bobcats on April 17 at Bloomsburg.
Both teams had to wait a little longer and travel to another location for their third match-up of the season. Weather forced the match to be played indoors.
Earning a second round match and extending its winning streak against Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) schools to 24 was not easy. Kutztown dropped two of the three doubles' matches and had to rely on the bottom of its singles order to survive and advance. Coming through for the Golden Bears was newly-minted PSAC Freshman of the Year Rushi Amin (Orefield, PA/Lake Brantley), who teamed with Juan Gutteriez to win 8-6 at No. 2 doubles and won his match in straight sets at No. 4 singles.
The deciding match belonged to Arijit Goswami (Kolkata, India/LSA Kolkata) at No. 3 singles. He showed plenty of resilience in winning the match. He lost the first set to Bloomsburg's Wexler, 6-4. However, Goswami bounced back to claim a tough 7-6 decision in the second set. Then, he dominated the final set by a 6-0 score to help the Golden Bears turn away the Huskies.
Also winning their singles matches in straight sets for Kutztown were Andrew Zhu (Toronto, ON/Northview) at No. 5 singles and Cameron O'Donnell (Allentown, PA/Parkland) at No. 6 singles.
With the win, the Golden Bears improved to 17-12 overall in the NCAA tournament since making their first appearance in 1998.
Kutztown 5, Bloomsburg 4
Singles Results
1. Ricky Dove (BLOOM-M) def. Kaushik Das (Guwahati, Assam/National Open School) (KUTZM) 6-3, 6-1
2. Jeff Nuhfer (BLOOM-M) def. Juan Gutierrez (San Jose, Costa Rica/SEK International School) (KUTZM) 6-3, 6-1
3. Arijit Goswami (Kolkata, India/LSA Kolkata) (KUTZM) def. Lee Wexler (BLOOM-M) 4-6, 7-6, 6-0
4. Rushi Amin (Orefield, PA/Lake Brantley) (KUTZM) def. Jack McClurkin (BLOOM-M) 6-1, 6-3
5. Andrew Zhu (Toronto, ON/Northview) (KUTZM) def. Tyler Pultro (BLOOM-M) 6-4, 6-2
6. Cameron O'Donnell (Allentown, PA/Parkland) (KUTZM) def. Evan Carney (BLOOM-M) 6-4, 6-1
Doubles Results
1. Jack McClurkin/Ricky Dove (BLOOM-M) def. Kaushik Das (Guwahati, Assam/National Open School)/Arijit Goswami (Kolkata, India/LSA Kolkata) (KUTZM) 8-5
2. Juan Gutierrez (San Jose, Costa Rica/SEK International School)/Rushi Amin (Orefield, PA/Lake Brantley) (KUTZM) def. Alan Hummel/Tyler Pultro (BLOOM-M) 8-6
3. Jeff Nuhfer/Lee Wexler (BLOOM-M) def. Andrew Zhu (Toronto, ON/Northview)/Joel Irwin (KUTZM) 8-6
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