April 26, 2003

Jersey City, NJ - The Marist College men's tennis team advanced to the championship of the 2003 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament, with a 4-0 win over fourth-seed, Loyola. The Red Foxes will take on the second-seeded Niagara University Purple Eagles in an 11:00 am match at the USTA Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, NY.

The Red Foxes captured the doubles point, as the first doubles team of Pat Hofer and Martin Aldorrson won 8-2, and the second doubles team of Chris Hagen and Mark Santucci won 8-0. With the point already decided the third doubles team of David Slater and Viktor Sapezhnikov had their match suspended with a 5-1 lead.

Hagen scored the next point for Marist, defeating Dan Scheimel 6-0, 6-0 at number two singles. In two tournament matches, Hagen has lost just one game, in the second set of the quarterfinal against Canisius. Hofer scored the Red Foxes third point in the umber one singles match, defeating John McConnell 7-5, 6-2, in a very competitive match. The match clinching point came from Dave Slater in the third singles, as he defeated Nick Bowers, 6-2, 6-2.

With the final points accumulated by Marist, the fourth, fifth and sixth singles, were suspended, with Marist leading in all three matches.

Niagara defeated Fairfield 7-0 in the other MAAC Tournament semifinal, played Friday night at the USTA.

The Red Foxes are looking for their fifth consecutive MAAC Tournament title and the accompanying automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which would also be their fifth in a row.