Men's Tennis Claims Ninth Consecutive NEWMAC Crown

April 28, 2007

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Top-seeded MIT outlasted No. 2 Wheaton College, 5-3, en route to its ninth consecutive New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Men's Tennis Championship. The Engineers (13-5) and the Lyons (11-5) have met in the title match for the past three seasons, with this year's match up being the closest in tournament history. MIT and Wheaton posted 5-0 wins over No. 4 Babson College and No. 3 Springfield College, respectively, in the semifinal round.

Wheaton opened the championship match with a pair of 8-2 decisions in the No. 3 and No. 2 doubles positions. MIT's top tandem of Thomas Dohlman and Eric Beren defeated Payum Payman and Brad Dressler, 8-4, to put the Engineers on the board.

Ryan Castonia evened the match at two after his 6-0, 6-2 victory over Kyle Hudgins in the No. 6 singles slot. Steady rain forced the competition inside and following the brief delay, Eric Beren put MIT ahead with his 6-0, 6-3 win in the No. 2 position. Payman defeated Dohlman, 6-4, 6-2, in the No. 1 position which tied the match at three. Melvin Makhni gave the Engineers the lead for good following his 6-4, 6-2 decision over Raymour Radhakrishnan. In the No. 4 spot, Peden Nichols won the first set against Will Stoddard, 6-1, but fell 7-6 in the second set. Nichols bounced back with a 6-2 victory to secure the title. The only unfinished match of the day was in the No. 3 slot, where MIT's Mark Egan was leading Dressler, 2-6, 7-5, 5-0.

2007 Championship
Final Team Score: MIT 5, Wheaton 3

Doubles
1. Thomas Dohlman/Eric Beren (M) def. Payum Payman/Brad Dressler (W), 8-4
2. Brian Danishevsky/Raymour Radhakrishnan (W) def. Mark Egan/Peden Nichols (M), 8-2
3. Will Stoddard/James Little (W) def. Melvin Makhni/Said Francis (M), 8-2

Singles
1. Payum Payman (W) def. Thomas Dohlman (M), 6-4, 6-2
2. Eric Beren (M) def. Brian Danishevsky (W), 6-0, 6-3
3. Mark Egan (M) vs. Brad Dressler (W), 2-6, 7-5, 5-0 (Halted)
4. Peden Nichols (M) def. Will Stoddard (W), 6-1, 6-7, 6-2
5. Melvin Makhni (M) def. Raymour Radhakrishnan (W), 6-4, 6-2
6. Ryan Castonia (M) def. Kyle Hudgins (W), 6-0, 6-2

Semifinal Matches

Final Team Score: MIT 5, Babson 0

Doubles
1. Thomas Dohlman/Eric Beren (M) def. Alex Kamergorodsky/Jason Lynn (B), 8-2
2. Mark Egan/Peden Nichols (M) def. Ben Edick/Walt Sea (B), 8-4
3. Said Francis/Melvin Makhni (M) def. Doug Tough/Mike Perkins (B), 8-4

Singles
1. Thomas Dohlman (M) def. Alex Kamergorodsky (B), 6-0, 6-0
2. Eric Beren (M) def. Ben Edick (B), 6-1, 6-1
3. Melvin Makhni (M) vs. Jason Lynn (B), 7-5, 1-0 (Halted)
4. Ryan Castonia (M) def. Ken Lin (B), 6-1, 6-1
5. Vinith Misra (M) vs. Kyle Natichioni (B), Halted
6. David Iba (M) vs. Doug Tough (B), Halted

Final Team Score: Wheaton 5, Springfield 0

Doubles
1. Payum Payman/Brad Dressler (W) def. Andrew Constant/Joe Lisi (S), 8-3
2. Brian Danishevsky/Raymour Radhakrishnan (W) def. Ethan Clime/Rahul Bala (S), 8-5
3. James Little/Will Stoddard (W) def. Trevor Romanzi/Guy Lepore (S), 8-6

Singles
1. Payum Payman (W) def. Andrew Constant (S), 6-2, 6-1
2. Brian Danishevsky (W) vs. Joe Lisi (S), 7-5, 1-3 (Halted)
3. Brad Dressler (W) def. Ethan Clime (S), 6-2, 6-3
4. Will Stoddard (W) vs. Rahul Bala (S), 7-6 (5), 1-1 (Halted)
5. Raymour Radhakrishnan (W) vs. Trevor Romanzi (S), 2-6, 1-4 (Halted)
6. Kyle Hudgins (W) vs. Tim Tunis (S), 6-2, 3-0 (Halted)