According to Head Coach Carol Pillsworth, RPI had not beaten the Dutchmen’s tennis team in about five years, and she was expecting a tough contest. “We were both down on our rosters,” she noted, as Union was lacking its first singles player for that match.

Joe Byrne, Joaquinn Denoya, Joe Black, and Amadeus Lopez all racked up straight set victories over their Union singles opponents, and Borjan Gagoski/Byrne, Denoya/Black, and Lopez/Justin Casey put all three doubles matches in RPI’s column.

Rensselaer’s first singles player, Gagoski, wound up facing Dutchman Jim White, defeating him 7-5, 3-6, 10-8, with the third set decided by a 10-point tiebreak, as the overall outcome of the match had already been decided. Rensselaer broke its multi-game losing streak, defeating Union 6-1, and earning the fifth seed in the UCAA Tournament.

This weekend at Hobart College in Geneva, N.Y., the men’s tennis team met St. Lawrence and Union yet again in the UCAA Championships. First on the docket was Saturday’s match against St. Lawrence.

RPI’s luck wouldn’t change this time around. SLU’s Matt Dwyer fought his way to a victory against Gagoski at first singles, 6-4, 6-2. Black pushed Ian Graddock to extra games in the first set, but was not able to convert, losing in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2. Fifth singles player Lopez had the longest contest of the day for RPI, forcing an extended tiebreak in the second set after losing the first 4-6. The second set would be his last, however, as the tiebreak ended 10-4 in Neil Cutter’s favor. RPI’s only win in that match was achieved by the doubles team of Black/Denoya, who defeated Andrew Bell/Graddock 8-6. The Saints took the match 7-0, moving on in the tournament to face top seeded Hobart College.

RPI met Union again that week in its tournament match on Sunday, played inside due to inclement weather. This time, however, Union was coming into the match with its full roster, thereby posing a more serious challenge, especially to Gagoski. Andrew Draznin dealt a serious blow to Gagowski, dismissing him 6-1, 6-2. White defeated RPI’s Black 7-5, 6-0, and Union’s Kyle Zakov edged out Lopez 6-4, 6-3.

Doubles action was tight, with RPI winning one match, and the Dutchmen taking the other two. This brought the overall match score to 4-0, thereby handing Union the victory, and ending the contest. Indoor play ceases once the match is decided, and thus the matches still on court when the fourth match was won were ceased.

This led to a perfect case of how “the score isn’t always indicative of the match,” as Pillsworth noted. RPI was leading in two of the three matches remaining on court. Denoya was up 7-6 (7-1), 4-3 at third singles when play stopped, and other matches were promising.