Posted: Apr 27, 2019
QUEENS, NY - The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's tennis team's program-record winning streak came to an end on Saturday, losing 4-0 to Queens College in the East Coast Conference tournament championship. A valiant effort in the doubles portion came up just short, as Queens narrowly edged the Spartans to take the doubles point. ECC Rookie and Player of the Year Marcel Volz '22 (Iffezheim, Germany) teamed up with Mitch Harrison '22 (Brisbane, Australia) to win 6-2 at third doubles, giving the pair their eleventh win on the season. Queens would then win at first doubles before just beating out Enej Hasicevic '20 (Palma de Mallorca, Spain) and Paul Voigt '21 (Cologne, Germany) at the second slot.
An exhausted Spartans squad showed true grit once singles started, but ultimately ran out of gas as the Knights won at sixth, fifth, and first singles to clinch the match. Voigt was on the verge of forcing a third set, while Tim Fleerkamp '20 (Waalre, Netherlands) had taken control of his match at second singles as the clinching match was finished. Gijs Offringa '22 (Hollandsche Rading, Netherlands) was nearly untouchable in the first set of his match at third singles, and had regained his true form in the third set but was unable to finish once the match at first singles concluded.
The Spartans have won fourteen matches on the season, the last eight in a row, to set new program. With the regular season and conference tournament concluded, they now await the NCAA selection committee to find out if they will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II East Region tournament, held May 11 & 12 at the top-two seeds. St. Thomas Aquinas is currently ranked seventh in the region, but should move up in this week's poll.
Queens 4, St. Thomas Aquinas 0
Doubles
1. Cosme Jubera/Lucas Demuth (QC) def. Tim Fleerkamp/Luke Taplin (STAC), 6-1
2. Kareem Rashad/Richard Sec (QC) def. Paul Voigt/Enej Hasicevic (STAC), 6-4
3. Marcel Volz/Mitch Harrison (STAC) def. Jose Zurro/Mariano Biblioni (QC), 6-2
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
1. Cosme Jubera (QC) def. Marcel Volz (STAC), 6-3, 6-2
2. Tim Fleerkamp (STAC) vs. Kareem Rashad (QC), 7-5, 2-1 unfinished
3. Gijs Offringa (STAC) vs. Lucas Demuth (QC), 6-2, 2-6, 0-1 unfinished
4. Paul Voigt (STAC) vs. Mariano Biblioni (QC), 2-6, 5-5 unfinished
5. Richard Sec (QC) def. Enej Hasicevic (STAC), 6-3, 6-1
6. Jose Zurro (QC) def. Luke Taplin (STAC), 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish: 6, 5, 1*
#7 St. Thomas Aquinas - 14-6 Overall (4-1 ECC)
#5 Queens - 13-7 Overall (5-0 ECC)