LAWRENCEVILLE, New Jersey – The Marist men's tennis team have clinched a share of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular season title after defeating the Rider Broncs, Saturday afternoon, 5-0 in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. The Red Foxes finish the season at 14-4 overall and 6-1 in conference play and await results of matches by Monmouth and Quinnipiac to determine final seeding.
“We're very pleased that we are co-champions of the MAAC and it was great to give a couple of players like Julien and Carlos a chance to play in our final league match,” said head coach Tim Smith. “It appears that we are going to be seeded second in the MAAC tournament and we are excited to play Quinnipiac in the first round.”
Marist jumped out to a quick lead in the match against Rider as they won from all three doubles spots. Rudolf Kurz and Dylan Fletcher beat Adam Levi and Matthew Begley at the No. 1 spot, 6-0. Jan Dernic and Max Darrington teamed up to defeat Chris Popso and Brandon Gildea at No. 2, 6-3, and lastly Carlos Moreno and Julien Hochner teamed up for the first time this season and downed Ryan Ciaccio and Jeremy Van Herwarde, 6-2 at the No. 3 position.
In singles play the Red Foxes didn't waiver and dropped only a single set in all six matches. Kurz defeated Rider's No. 1 Diego Delgado, 6-4, 6-0. Dernic defeated Begley at the No. 3 position, 6-1, 6-0, Fletcher took care of business against Rider's No. 4 Van Herwarde, 6-0, 6-1, and Max Darrington won his first match of the day as he defeated the Broncs' Gildea, 6-1, 6-1.
The Red Foxes now have a week to prepare for the MAAC Championships which are set to begin on Saturday, April 30th at Mercer Park in West Windsor, New Jersey. As of now the Red Foxes are slated to face the Quinnipiac Bobcats in the first round of action.
Full Results
Doubles
1. Rudolf Kurz/Dylan Fletcher (MARM) def. Levi, Adam/Begley, Matthew (RIDM) 6-0
2. Jan Dernic/Max Darrington (MARM) def. Popso, Chris/Gildea, Brandon (RIDM) 6-3
3. Carlos Moreno/Julien Hochner (MARM) def. Ciaccio, Ryan/Van Herwarde, Jeremy (RIDM) 6-2
Singles
1. Rudolf Kurz (MARM) def. Delgado, Diego (RIDM) 6-4, 6-0
2. Popso, Chris (RIDM) vs. Timo Tanzer (MARM) 6-7 (5-7), unfinished
3. Jan Dernic (MARM) def. Begley, Matthew (RIDM) 6-1, 6-0
4. Dylan Fletcher (MARM) def. Van Herwarde, Jeremy (RIDM) 6-0, 6-1
5. Max Darrington (MARM) def. Gildea, Brandon (RIDM) 6-1, 6-1
6. Ciaccio, Ryan (RIDM) vs. Carlos Moreno (MARM) unfinished
