Kutztown University Tennis

FRI 5/6 9:30 AM Kutztown vs. Millersville
2:30 PM Assumption vs. Mercy

SAT 5/7 2:30 PM Championship Match

KUTZTOWN, PA – The Kutztown University men’s tennis team will host an NCAA Division II East Region first- and second-round tournament on Friday and Saturday, May 6-7 at Keystone Courts.

There are 16 men’s first- and second-round tournaments in the eight regions, two each per region, throughout the country. Concordia (NY) will host the other NCAA East Regional. The winner of each tournament advances to the finals in Altamonte Springs, Fla., with the Central Florida Sports Commission and Sunshine State Conference serving as co-hosts, May 11-14.

Kutztown (18-1) faces Millersville (7-6) at 9:30 AM on Friday. Assumption (17-1) matches up against Mercy (6-4) at 2:30. The winners will face each other on Saturday at 2:30 PM.

KU, which won its fifth PSAC title in six years two weeks ago, has set a school record with 18 wins this season. Kutztown topped Assumption in the final a year ago and advanced to the NCAA round of 16, where the team lost to Ferris State. Overall, the Golden Bears are making their seventh consecutive appearance in the NCAA Regional, having appeared in the tournament every year since 1998. KU has won the East Regional in each of the past three seasons.

Mukundan Nandakumar (sr. Chennai, INDIA) and Harsh Sharma (jr. Calcutta, INDIA) lead the Golden Bear men. The two have teamed for a perfect 14-0 record at first doubles. In singles, Nandakumar will play at the No.1 position. He is 15-2 on the season in singles play. Sharma is 15-4 overall and will play at second singles for Kutztown.

The Golden Bears’ other four singles players all have double figure win totals, as well. Radoslaw Hlubinski (jr. Warsaw, POLAND) will play third singles in the tournament. He is 12-5 in 2004-05. Ilja Semjonovs (jr. Liepaja, LATVIA) gets the nod at fourth singles and is 10-3 this year. Somdeep Appineni (so. Hyderabad, INDIA), who leads the team in wins, brings a 15-4 record into the NCAA Regional. Rounding out the singles lineup for Kutztown is Lukas Beman (so. Woodend, AUSTRALIA), who is 11-6 this season. Appineni will appear at fifth singles, with Beman getting the start at No. 6 singles.

Kutztown will use the duo of Hlubinski and Appineni at second doubles and the tandem of Beman and Semjonovs at third doubles. Hlubinski and Appineni have posted a mark of 11-3 this year, while Beman and Semjonovs are 12-2, including 10-0 at third doubles.

Assumption enters the tournament at 17-1 overall and was 11-0 in the Northeast-10. The Greyhounds are making their sixth straight appearance in the NCAA Regional, with their last regional title coming in 2002.

Mercy enters the tournament out of the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference with a 6-4 overall mark and 4-2 record in the NYCAC. Mercy made its first NCAA Regional appearance last season.

Millersville finished its 2004-05 regular season at 7-6 overall and 3-2 in the PSAC East. The Marauders are making their ninth NCAA Regional trip, but have not appeared in the tournament since 2002.

KUTZTOWN, PA - Kutztown defeated Millersville, 5-0, in the first round of the NCAA Division II East Regional Men's Tennis Tournament at the Keystone Courts Friday morning.

The Golden Bears (19-1) won all three doubles matches, then picked up two quick singles points to secure the victory.

Mukundan Nandakumar and Harsh Sharma won 8-2 at first doubles, while Lukas Beman and Ilja Semjonovs picked up an 8-1 win at third doubles. At second doubles, Somdeep Appineni and Radoslaw Hlubinski broke a 6-6 tie with two straight wins to finish off an 8-6 hard-fought victory.

Sharma, at second singles, blanked his opponent, 6-0 and 6-0, to give KU its fourth team point. Appineni clinched the match with a 6-1, 6-1 win at fifth singles. The matches at first, third, fourth and sixth singles did not finish.

Kutztown advances to face the winner of Friday's other first round match between Assumption and Mercy on Saturday at 2:30 PM.

Doubles
1. Mukundan Nandakumar/Harsh Sharma (K) def. Greg Bennett/Clifford Boyd (M) 8-2
2. Somdeep Appineni/Radoslaw Hlubinski (K) def. Brandon Kessler/Chris Matisse (M) 8-6
3. Lukas Beman/Ilja Semjonovs (K) def. Scott Smith/Jimmy Trieres (M) 8-1

Singles
1. Mukundan Nandakumar (K) vs. Greg Bennett (M) 6-3, 3-3 (did not finish)
2. Harsh Sharma (K) def. Clifford Boyd (M) 6-0, 6-0
3. Radoslaw Hlubinski (K) vs. Brandon Kessler (M) 6-2, 3-2 (did not finish)
4. Ilja Semjonovs (K) vs. Chris Matisse (M) 6-4, 1-1 (did not finish)
5. Somdeep Appineni (K) def. Scott Smith (M) 6-1, 6-1
6. Lukas Beman (K) vs. Jimmy Trieres (M) 6-2, 1-1 (did not finish)

KUTZTOWN, PA - Assumption advanced in the first round of the NCAA East Regional at Kutztown with a 5-2 victory over Mercy.

Mercy won the match at first doubles behind Hans Peter Gartner and Mabo Banno, who won 8-4. Antonio Recalde and Dave Marshall tied it up for Assumption with an 8-6 win at second doubles and Matt Stopp and Rich Lieberman gave the Greyhounds a 2-1 lead with an 8-5 win at third doubles.

Gartner took the match at first singles, 6-1, 7-5, for Mercy's only singles point. Assumption won the other three completed matches at second, fifth and sixth singles. Recalde won 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. James Newman was a 6-4, 6-4 winner at fifth singles and Lieberman took a 6-4, 6-1 victory at sixth singles.

With the win, Assumption advances to the regional final, Saturday at 2:30, against Kutztown.

Doubles
1. Hans Peter Gartner/Mabo Banno (M) def. Mike Goldman/James Newman (A) 8-4
2. Antonio Recalde/Dave Marshall (A) def. Pavol Vasko/Carl Johnson (M) 8-6
3. Matt Stopp/Rich Lieberman (A) def. Dennis James/Jonas Kazemakaitis (M) 8-5

Singles
1. Gartner (M) def. Goldman (A) 6-1, 7-5
2. Recalde (A) def. Banno (M) 6-4, 6-2
3. Stopp (A) vs. Kazemakaitis (M) 6-3, 5-4
4. Marshall (A) vs. Johnson (M) 6-3, 4-5
5. Newman (A) def. Vasko (M) 6-4, 6-4
6. Lieberman (A) def. James (M) 6-4, 6-1

KUTZTOWN, PA - Kutztown won the NCAA East Regional with a 5-1 decision over Assumption at Keystone Courts.

The victory sends the Golden Bears to the NCAA Championships for the fourth consecutive season.

The Golden Bears swept the doubles competition to take a 3-0 lead. Mukundan Nandakumar and Harsh Sharma won 8-4 at first doubles, as did Ilja Semjonovs and Lukas Beman at third doubles. The duo of Radoslaw Hlubinski and Somdeep Appineni picked up an 8-6 win at second doubles.

In singles, Sharma won a match at second singles 6-0, 6-0. Nandakumar clinched the regional title with a 6-2, 6-1 win at first singles.

Not only did Nandakumar's win clinch the regional title, it was the 141st combined win (singles and doubles) in his career, tying Michael Rohrbach's KU record. Nandakumar, KU's only senior this season, is the first KU athlete in any sport to help his team win an NCAA regional in each of his four seasons at KU.

Assumption's only point came from a 6-4, 6-4 win at fourth singles by Dave Marshall.

Kutztown now advances to the finals in Altamonte Springs, Fla., with the Central Florida Sports Commission and Sunshine State Conference serving as co-hosts, May 11-14.

Doubles
1. Mukundan Nandakumar/Harsh Sharma (K) def. Mike Goldman/James Newman (A) 8-4
2. Radoslaw Hlubinski/Somdeep Appineni (K) def. Antonio Recalde/Dave Marshall (A) 8-6
3. Ilja Semjonovs/Lukas Beman (K) def. Matt Stopp/Dan Doenges (A) 8-4

Singles
1. Mukundan Nandakumar (K) def. Mike Goldman (A) 6-2, 6-1
2. Harsh Sharma (K) def. Antonio Recalde (A) 6-0, 6-0
3. Radoslaw Hlubinsi (K) vs. Matt Stopp (A) 7-6, 1-2
4. Dave Mashall (A) def. Ilja Semjonovs (K) 6-4, 6-4
5. Somdeep Appineni (K) vs. James Newman (A) 3-6, 2-2
6. Lukas Beman (K) vs. Dan Doenges (A) 6-2, 5-0