Men's College Tennis
Rider University 4, Manhattan College 3
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Match
JERSEY CITY?To eventually be a champion, you have to start by beating the defending champion. And the Rider University men's tennis team did just that on Tuesday night, upsetting four-time defending conference champion Manhattan in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference match hosted by Saint Peter's College. “I said before the match that it would come down to the doubles point and it did,” said head coach Ed Torres. “It was a true team effort. Our top three guys lost but the fourth, fifth and sixth singles won and gave us a chance to win the match.”
After splitting the singles matches, Rider won the crucial doubles point winning two of the three doubles matches.
“We played well overall as a team,” Torres said. “Even though Manhattan has lost some players to graduation, the players they have back are still pretty good.”
Sophomore Marc Ashed (Vineland), freshman Christopher Esposito (Ocean Grove/Neptune) and freshman Robert Olsen (Marlton/Cherokee) all won at singles and doubles for Rider. “I felt comfortable,” said Ashed about playing fourth singles at the Peahen's indoor ?bubble' facility. “Playing inside is a totally different game and I think we all adjusted pretty well to it.” Ashed teamed with sophomore Will Haight (Turnersville/Washington Township) to win at third doubles 8-0.
The women's tennis team travels to Wagner on Wednesday and both the men's and women's teams travel to Delaware State on Thursday.
“Since I've been here, we haven't won a MAAC match,” Ashed added. “We've had a few that have slipped out of our fingers and it feels good to finally get a conference win. It feels good that we won't be last in the league. We are still working hard, trying to get better and any win, especially a MAAC win bodes well for us as we head into the conference tournament in a few weeks.”
Rider's last men's conference win came against Loyola on April 17, 2006. Manhattan defeated rider 7-0 last season.
Winning a single MAAC match does not a champion make however a win over the four-time defending conference champion is a great place to start.
-RU-
