April 25, 2010

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JERSEY CITY, N.J. - Powered by its seventh straight shutout victory, the Marist men's tennis team captured its eighth Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship on Sunday, after a 4-0 win over the second-seeded Fairfield Stags. The Red Foxes have won three consecutive conference titles and senior Loic Sessagesimi (Blonay, Switzerland) was named the MAAC Tournament's Most Outstanding Performer for the third consecutive season.

Marist, the top seed in the championship, vaulted itself to a 1-0 lead after it captured the doubles point behind victories at the first and third spots in the lineup. Junior Landon Greene (Palos Verdes, Calif.) paired with freshman Joris Van Eck (Ospel, Netherlands) to defeat Dan Sauter and Rob Ferrante 8-4 at first doubles. The Red Foxes captured the point after junior Nicolas Pisecky (Lausanne, Switzerland) and senior Loic Sessagesimi (Blonay, Switzerland) also notched an 8-4 third doubles triumph. Pisecky and Sessagesimi defeated Ryan Berthod and Mark Kremheller.

Needing just three singles victories to clinch the win, the Red Foxes got victories from Pisecky and Himmelsbach for the second straight day. Pisecky cruised past Ferrante at third singles, 6-1, 6-2. Himmelsbach was the only Marist player to hold his opponent at love in a set on the day. He defeated Berthod 6-3, 6-0 at fourth singles.

Greene netted a fifth singles victory over Kremheller 6-2, 6-2.

Following the fourth point for Marist as a team, the remaining matches were halted since Fairfield could not come back to win the match. The first, second and sixth singles matches were not completed.

The match was moved indoors to Saint Peter's College as inclement weather plagued the region on Sunday. The contest was held at the Yanitelli Center in Jersey City, N.J. The two teams have met in the conference championship match in each of the last three seasons.

The championship is the 81st in Marist Athletics history and second in as many weeks as the men's rowing team captured its 13th MAAC crown last Sunday, April 18.

With the win, Marist will advance to its eighth NCAA Tournament by virtue of the automatic qualification. The tournament selection show will be aired on ESPNEWS on Tuesday, May 4, when the 64-team field is released.