EDWARDSVILLE, Pa. – Sophomore Michael Capozzi (Santo Domingo, D.R.) and freshmen Andres Rivera (San Juan, Puerto Rico) and Karim Mahmoud (Cairo, Egypt) all were dual winners as Manhattanville took six of nine titles at the MAC Men’s Tennis Individual Tournament, which concluded on Sunday afternoon at Kirby Park and the Ralston Courts.
After winning five of the nine individual titles last year, Manhattanville bettered itself in 2010, as the Valiants took three of the six singles championships and swept the three doubles competitions. All six Valiants won at least one individual title, with Capozzi, Rivera and Mahmoud all winning in both singles and doubles play.
The Valiants set the tone for the day in doubles competition, where all three doubles pairs won their semifinal and championship matches. The team’s only top-seeded tandem, Capozzi and junior Julian Oribe (Buenos Aires, Argentina), combined to win the first-doubles crown with an 8-2 semifinal win over third-seeded Manrique Arrea and Jed Spangler of Elizabethtown College and a hard-fought 8-6 triumph over Messiah College’s second-seeded pairing of Jansen Hein and Luke Hostetter. The title win was the team’s 10th consecutive victory.
At second doubles, graduate student Lance Dorfi (North Salem, N.Y.) and sophomore Dean Tahir (Yonkers, N.Y.) also had to work for their crown but emerged victorious. The team had a very stiff challenge from Elizabethtown’s fourth-seeded pairing of Eric Fritzges and Josh Riehl in the semifinals, eking out a 9-8 (7-3) tiebreaker win. The final was a little easier, as the second seeds downed top-seeded Clarke Freeman and Cesar Leon of Wilkes University by an 8-3 score.
Second-seeded Mahmoud and Rivera completed the Valiant doubles sweep, taking down ETown’s Mike Anderson and Bryan Metz in the semifinals, 8-4, before upending Wilkes’ top-seeded pairing of Evan Katz and Wes McCollum, 8-3.
Singles play brought on similar results for the Valiants, as three players reached the championship round and all three emerged victorious.
After a double bagel in his quarterfinal match on Saturday, top-seeded Capozzi continued to roll through the second-singles bracket on Sunday, losing just two games in two straight-set wins. After besting Tim Carroll of King’s (Pa.) College, 6-1, 6-1, in the semis, he dropped nary a game in a 6-0, 6-0 sweep of third-seeded Tim Beattie of Lycoming College. For Capozzi, it moved his singles winning streak to an impressive 16 matches in a row to go along with his 10 straight doubles wins.
At sixth singles, Mahmoud proved himself worthy of his number one seed, winning both his semifinal and championship matches by the same 6-4, 6-1 score. In the semis, he dispatched fourth-seeded Cody Heffner of Lycoming, before beating the second seed, Wilkes’ Freeman, in the title bout.
The sixth and final Valiant winner came at fifth singles, where Rivera battled hard to knock off the one and three seeds to earn the title. The second seed came back from a 4-6 first set to beat third-seeded Fritzges in a 7-5 second set and a 10-3 supertiebreaker, and then used a 7-6 (7-3) first-set tiebreaker win to propel him to a 6-4 second-set victory over top-seeded Katz of Wilkes.
In other singles action, Oribe, Dorfi and Tahir all reached the semifinal round before succumbing to their seeded opposition. Oribe fell to fourth-seed and eventual champion Hein in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2 at first singles.
Both Dorfi at third singles and Tahir at fourth singles had their matches go to a supertiebreaker, but neither could pull out the win. Second-seeded Dorfi won the first set before watching third-seeded Jason Mifsud of Lycoming rally back for a 1-6, 6-4, 10-3 victory in the semis, while third-seeded Tahir took top-seeded and eventual champion McCollum to the limit before falling by a 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 score.
"One of the most important things about this tournament," said head coach Albie Collins, "was that our players – win or lose – always held their heads high and conducted themselves in a sportsmanlike manner. Our team was positive and confident throughout the matches, and it was easy for coaches and players alike to see."
Manhattanville will return its focus to team competition this week, as the second-seeded Valiants host third-seeded Misericordia University in the semifinal round of the Freedom Conference Tournament on Wednesday beginning at 3:30 p.m. at the Manhattanville Courts.