The men’s tennis team is heading to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Tournament, and will be aiming to win the tournament for the second consecutive season.
The GNAC Championship match will be on Saturday, at the Ramapo tennis courts as the Roadrunners take on the winner of Suffolk University and Johnson and Wales University.
“I think intensity will play a key factor for us winning on Saturday. We will need a lot of adrenaline if we want to keep our opponents intimidated and pressured. Having such a big match on home courts, I feel, will definitely help us out, so we will be looking for the crowd’s help in keeping the energy high and [the] points intense,”
The Roadrunners had momentum coming in against Rutgers-Newark in the first game of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Tournament. The Roadrunners, currently 11-4 for the season and 2-0 in their conference were coming into the game on a five game winning streak.
Fresh off an 8-1 win against New York University Polytechnic, it did not seem that the Roadrunners had much room for improvement from in game but anyone who has an inkling about sports, knows otherwise.
The men’s team defeated the Scarlet Raiders of Rutgers-Newark, 9-0. Each set seemed to be fairly easy for the Roadrunners, only losing one set out of the singles competition, while winning each singles match, and sweeping the Scarlet Raiders in doubles competition.
The men’s team had also beat Rutgers Newark in earlier in the season, 8-1 on April 12.
Justin Gerstl, senior and captain for Ramapo, defeated his opponent Derence Tejero, a junior for Rutgers Newark 6-1 in both sets.
Gerstl and Tejero met up once more on Wednesday, this time in the first doubles match for the men. Gerstl and his partner, captain and senior Evan Clayton, defeated Tejero and his partner, senior Raymond Postadan in an 8-4 matchup.
Gerstl also happens to be the GNAC player of the week for earning his fourth straight doubles win. He has led Ramapo to a 3-0 week as well.
Murphy shut out his opponent, Rutgers-Newark junior Rajan Mandania in two sets, 6-0. He also won his doubles competition along side his partner, junior John Seaman. The duo beat the opposing Rutgers-Newark partners Stan Wu, freshman, and Mandania, 8-1.
Overall it was a successful day for the Roadrunners, shutting out the Scarlet Raiders and winning the first game of the 2014 GNAC Tournament. The big win should provide momentum for the championship game.
“As long as we play our game and play the bigger points better, I see no reason for us to lose,” Murphy said.
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lforese@ramapo.edu
