BUCKHANNON, W. Va. (May 2, 2011) – The third-seeded Kutztown University men's tennis team had its terrific season come to an end with a 5-0 defeat to host and second-seeded West Virginia Wesleyan in the NCAA Atlantic Regional #2 final at the Sam Ross Tennis Center Monday afternoon.
Kutztown finished its season with a 14-5 overall record. West Virginia Wesleyan was too tough as it won all three doubles matches and prevailed at No. 1 and No. 3 singles. The Golden Bear No. 3 doubles tandem of Zhu and Joel Irwin battled before surrendering a tough 8-4 decision. With the victory, the Bobcats (17-1) extended their winning streak to 17 and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 on May 11-14 at Altamonte Springs, FL.
Despite the defeat, Kutztown has a lot to be proud of during its memorable 2010-11 season. The Golden Bears won their third straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) title and 10th crown in the last 12 years.
In addition, Kutztown qualified for the NCAA championships for the 13th time in program history and captured the major PSAC postseason awards. Kaushik Das (Guwahati, Assam/National Open School) was named PSAC Athlete of the Year and Rushi Amin (Orefield, PA/Lake Brantley) earned Freshman of the Year honors. The Golden Bears played a challenging schedule and earned wins over several ranked squads during the season.
Kutztown also showed plenty of heart in rallying from a 4-2 deficit to defeat Bloomsburg in its opening round match that ended after midnight. Four players finished with double digit singles victories highlighted by freshman Andrew Zhu (Toronto, ON/Northview)'s 13. Amin had 12 wins and finished the season with 11 straight victories. Das and Cameron O'Donnell (Allentown, PA/Parkland) won 11 matches. O'Donnell ended the year with an eight-match win streak.
The good part for the Golden Bears is many of the players are expected to return so their dominance of the PSAC should continue. Kutztown will plenty of talent to challenge for Atlantic Region supremacy. The ending of a memorable season is always tough, but it could be a bridge to brighter days ahead for the KU men's tennis program.
West Virginia Wesleyan 5, Kutztown 0
Singles:
#1 Marc Rosner (WVW) def. Kaushik Das (Guwahati, Assam/National Open School) 6-2, 6-1
#2 Alvaro Ochoa (WVW)-Juan Gutierrez (San Jose, Costa Rica/SEK International School) (KU) DNF
#3 Danilo Franciscon (WVW) def. Arijit Goswami (Kolkata, India/LSA Kolkata) (KU) 6-1, 6-2
#4 Javier Yim Kim (WVW)-Rushi Amin (Orefield, PA/Lake Brantley) (KU) DNF
#5 Eduard Gusevs (WVW)-Andrew Zhu (Toronto, ON/Northview) (KU) DNF
#6 Dennis Cole (WVW)-Cameron O'Donnell (Allentown, PA/Parkland) (KU) DNF
Doubles:
#1 Marc Rosner/Alvaro Ochoa (WVW) def. Kaushik Das (Guwahati, Assam/National Open School)/Arijit Goswami (Kolkata, India/LSA Kolkata) (KU) 8-2
#2 Danilo Franciscon/Eduard Gusevs (WVW) def. Rushi Amin (Orefield, PA/Lake Brantley)/Juan Gutierrez (San Jose, Costa Rica/SEK International School) (KU) 8-3
#3 Javier Yim Kim/Dennis Cole (WVW) def. Andrew Zhu (Toronto, ON/Northview)/Joel Irwin (KU) 8-4
