BROOKLYN – Pratt Institute men's tennis was victorious in its 2017 debut, besting visiting Berkeley College 5-4 in Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play at the ARC Thursday night.
Cannoneers sophomore Hubert Chen teamed with Simon Salazar to outlast Jonathan Wilson and Alexander Maurmann in a critical 8-6 No. 2 doubles win and later bested Raj Ulrich Mopoundza 10-2 in No. 3 singles.
Salazar topped Nicholas Echavarria 10-1 in No. 4 singles, and fellow freshman Johnson Meng beat Maurmann 10-8 in No. 5 singles.
"In the end, Johnson was the hero," first-year head coach David Eddy said of Meng, who recorded Pratt's final and deciding win.
Freshman Ben Erickson paired with Rongxin Zhang for an 8-3 No. 1 doubles victory over Mopoundza and Wilson.
The triumph in Eddy's debut starts the Cannoneers off with a crucial conference win, while Berkeley falls to 0-1 to open 2017.
Pratt returns to the court in non-league play Saturday at Rutgers-Newark.
Pratt Institute 5, Berkeley (NY) College 4
Singles:
1. Jonathan Wilson (BERKELEY) def. Ben Erickson (PRATT) 10-8
2. Victor Marrota (BERKELEY) def. Rongxin Zhang (PRATT) 10-3
3. Hubert Chen (PRATT) def. Raj Ulrich Mopoundza (BERKELEY) 10-2
4. Simon Salazar (PRATT) def. Nicholas Echavarria (BERKELEY) 10-1
5. Johnson Meng (PRATT) def. Alexander Maurmann (BERKELEY) 10-8
6. Sebastien Rousseau (BERKELEY) def. Taeyoung Chang (PRATT) 10-1
Doubles:
1. Ben Erickson/Rongxin Zhang (PRATT) def. Victor Marrota/Raj Ulrich Mopoundza (BERKELEY) 8-3
2. Hubert Chen/Simon Salazar (PRATT) def. Jonathan Wilson/Alexander Maurmann (BERKELEY) 8-6
3. Nicholas Echavarria/Sebastien Rousseau (BERKELEY) def. Johnson Meng/Taeyoung Chang (PRATT) 8-1
