For Immediate Release: April 30, 2005
Contact: John Hartrick (hartrick@binghamton.edu)
Phone: 607-777-6800

Binghamton men's tennis defeats Hartford 4-0 in America East semifinals
Bearcats advance to third straight title match, will face Stony Brook on Sunday

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Top-seeded Binghamton men's tennis (20-5) advanced to the America East championship for the third consecutive season, eliminating No. 4 Hartford 4-0 Saturday afternoon indoors at the Connecticut Tennis Center. The Bearcats, two-time defending conference champions, will face No. 2 Stony Brook in Sunday's championship match, which begins at 10 a.m. The Seawolves posted a 4-0 victory over No. 3 UMBC in the other semifinal. It will be the third straight year that the two SUNY rivals square off for the title.

"We survived a very hard fought match today," head coach Michael Starke said. "The match was much closer than the score would indicate."

Sophomore Dan Hanegby (Herzliya, Israel), the America East Player of the Year, set the tone with a straight-set win at first singles, which staked the Bearcats to a 1-0 lead. His 6-4, 6-3 victory over Patrick Flint avenged an earlier three-set loss to Hartford's top player, and upped his record to 30-7 overall, 20-4 in duals.

Freshman Alex Dobrin (Flushing, N.Y.) clinched the team victory with a tough 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 3 singles. Dobrin, the America East Rookie of the Year, has won 12 consecutive matches, and is 26-5 overall, 21-3 in duals.

Starke gave a quick assessment of Sunday's title match against the Seawolves.

"Stony Brook played well today," he said. "They are focussed, and it should be a great match. We're hungry and ready to go."

No. 1 Binghamton 4, No. 4 Hartford 0

SINGLES:
#1 Dan Hanegby (Binghamton) def. Patrick Flint (Hartford) 6-4, 6-3
#2 Richemn Mourad (Binghamton) def. Doruk Baglan (Hartford) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
#3 Alex Dobrin (Binghamton) def. Jeff Hurlbert (Hartford) 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
#4 Faisal Mohamed (Binghamton) def. Jorge Acuna (Hartford) 6-4, 6-4
#5 Clint Broadie (Hartford) led Edwin Gerard (Binghamton) 6-2
#6 Brian O’Connor (Binghamton) was leading Dan Kirchner (Hartford) 3-2

NOTE: Because the match was moved indoors due to rain, the singles matches were played first and the Bearcats clinched the victory before doubles play was necessary.