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STAC Men's Tennis Advances to ECC Championship Final with 4-0 Shutout Victory Over UDC

STAC Men's Tennis Advances to ECC Championship Final with 4-0 Shutout Victory Over UDC

Flushing, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Tennis team advanced to its third straight East Coast Conference Tournament Final with a 4-0 shutout victory over the University of the District of Columbia in the semifinal round on Friday afternoon at the Queens College Tennis Center.

#2 seeded STAC improves to 16-7 on the year, while UDC closes its 2021-22 campaign at 5-12.

STAC opened things up with a dominant performance in doubles play, taking two matchups to secure the team doubles point. The duo of Odysseas Papaioannou and Maximilian Kendler cruised to a 6-0 victory at No. 3, followed by the pair of Eduard Simo and Ludovico Truffelli taking a 6-3 win at the No. 1 position.

Once the Spartans secured the doubles point, there was no turning back. St. Thomas Aquinas jumped right into singles play, taking the first three matches from the Firebirds to secure the win and advance to Saturday's championship. Ivan Laiz started the victory spree in the No. 6 slot, taking a 6-0, 6-1 victory. Ludovico Truffelli followed the trend taking a 6-1, 6-2 triumph in the No. 5 slot to give the Spartans a commanding 3-0 lead and put UDC on the ropes, facing elimination. Lennart Lehmann delivered the final knockout blow in the No. 3 position, cruising to a 6-0, 6-0 win to end the postseason contest.

 

STAC 4/UDC 0 - OFFICIAL RESULTS

DOUBLES
1. Eduard Simo & Ludovico Truffelli (STAC) def. Louis Mangeon & Maksim Bahdanovich (UDC), 6-3
2. Tony KhamassiValentin Baranyi (STAC) def. Juan Estevez Hernandez & Mauricio Corty (UDC), 3-3 (Match Unfinished)
3. Odysseas Papaioannou and Maximilian Kendler (STAC) def. Jake Bedforth & Fredia Ayala (UDC), 6-0
 
Order of Finish: 3, 1*
 
SINGLES
1. Eduard Simo (STAC) vs. Louis Mangeon (UDC) 5-5 (Match Unfinished)
2. Maximilian Kendler (STAC) vs. Mauricio Corty (UDC) 5-4 (Match Unfinished)
3. Lennart Lehmann (STAC) def. Juan Estevez Hernandez (UDC) 6-0, 6-0
4. Odysseas Papaioannou (STAC) def. Maksim Bahdanovich (UDC) 6-3, 2-1 (Match Unfinished)
5. Ludovico Truffelli (STAC) def. Jake Bedforth (UDC) 6-1, 6-0
6. Ivan Laiz (STAC) def. Fredis Ayala (UDC) 6-0, 6-1

Order of Finish: 6, 5, 3*
 
UDC Record: 5-12, 2-4 ECC
STAC Record: 16-7, 4-2 ECC - #6 NCAA D2 East, #55 ITA National
 
 
Match Notes: Lennart Lehmann was named the 2022 ECC Men's Tennis Elite 19 Award recipient for holding the highest cumulative grade point average (3.94) among those student-athletes competing in the championship tournament.
 
 
Up Next: #2 St. Thomas Aquinas takes on the top seed and hosts, Queens College in the ECC Men's Tennis Championship Tournament Final on Saturday (April 30) at 12:00 p.m. Queens defeated #4 Daemen University, 4-0 in the first semifinal matchup on Friday. The Spartans are seeking their first ECC Men's Tennis Tournament crown in program history.