WEST WINDSOR, NJ – Matteus Froberg Dahlin (Lidingo, Sweden/Hersby Gymnasium) earned a straight-sets victory at No. 2 singles, but the No. 6 Rider University men's tennis team fell to top-seeded Quinnipiac, 4-1, in the MAAC Championships Finals Sunday at Mercer County Tennis Center. With the loss, the Broncs end their season at 11-14, while the Bobcats (12-11) advance to the NCAA Tournament. Rider earned the first two MAAC Championship wins in program history on Friday and Saturday and was playing in the final for the first time.
The Bobcats took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3.
Axel Engstrom and
Cooper Dillon (Brisbane, Australia/Laurel Springs) fell to Alex Yang and Elias Hoxha, 6-4, at No. 3, while
Roger Martinez (Girona, Spain/Saint George's School) and
Cole Thurgur (Ottawa, Ontario/Nepean) fell to James Lorenzetti and Daniel Velek, 6-3, at No. 2. The match between the Broncs'
Dhruv Tangri (Punjab, India/Cambridge International School) and Froberg Dahlin and Quinnipiac's Finn Burridge and Carlos Braun Simo was halted at 4-4 with the doubles point already decided.
In singles, the Bobcats pushed their lead to 3-0 with wins at Nos. 3 and 1. Braun Simo defeated Thurgur, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 3, with Thurgur falling for the first time to a league opponent in 11 chances. Velek defeated Tangri at No. 1, 6-4, 6-2.
Froberg Dahlin gave the Broncs their first win of the day with a 7-6 (4), 6-2, victory at No. 2 over Burridge. Rider also got first-set victories from
Nathan Slattery (Nenagh, Ireland) at No. 3, Engstrom at No. 5 and
Matthew Griscti (Madliena, Malta) at No. 6. But Hoxha came back to defeat Slattery, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 4 to clinch the match.
Engstrom's third set had not begun when his match was halted. He won the first set vs. Vishal Prakash, 7-6 (6), before falling in the second, 7-6 (5). Griscti won his first set against Yang, 6-4, before falling in the second, 6-2. He trailed, 5-2, in the third when the match was abandoned.
