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2008 Season Outlook/Recap
Arcadia Graduate Captures Philly-SIDA Player of the Year Title
Philadelphia, PA: 7/2/08 - Tim Fitzgerald '08 (Wilmington, DE) added one final collegiate award to his expansive resume when he was recently named 2008 Philly-SIDA Academic All-Area Player of the Year for Men's Tennis. Fitzgerald is the first student-athlete in Arcadia's history in all sports to be recognized with this honor.
Philly-SIDA (Philadelphia Sports Information Directors of America) is a member organization comprised of NCAA Division I, II, and III Sports Information Directors in the Philadelphia region. The organization nominates and votes on area student-athletes annually in each sport whose athletics abilities complement their exceptional academic achievements.
Fitzgerald, the 2008 Middle Atlantic Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year for men's tennis, concluded his collegiate playing career with a 22-match undefeated streak at No. 1 Singles. The Wilmington native captured the Freedom Conference Player of the Year title and won the No. 1 Singles crown in the conference championships.
Fitzgerald was one of three Knights to receive Arcadia's senior scholar-athlete award. He was the 2008 recipient of the Ruth C. Grant Distinguished Achievement Award. Fitzgerald earned Dean's Distinguished List honors for all eight semesters of his undergraduate career and had a 3.84 cumulative grade point average as a fine arts major with a minor in photography.
"I had a great four years as a student-athlete at Arcadia," Fitzgerald reveals. "I watched myself 
develop as both a student and athlete with the help of our great faculty and athletics staff. I tried to take advantage of every opportunity presented to me, from Study Abroad (he traveled with the London Preview program, studied at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland and worked as a visual artist in Italy), to organizing exhibitions on campus and obviously competing for my school. At Arcadia my coach, Lak Sphabmixay, and our athletics staff always show concern for academic achievement which is a tribute to them and to our joining the highly competitive Middle Atlantic Conference."
Fitzgerald closed out his collegiate career on top of the Freedom Conference and academically among his Middle Atlantic opponents, but he also led the Knight's squad for four years, having collected numerous accolades along the way, including: Pennsylvania Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year, PAC MVP, All-PAC First Team, PAC #1 Doubles Champion, and All-PAC Academic Team all in 2005; PAC #1 Singles Runner Up, PAC #1 Doubles Quarterfinalist, All-PAC First Team, All-PAC Academic Team all in 2006; PAC Player of the Year, PAC Player of the Week, PAC Weekly Honor Roll, PAC #1 Singles Champion, PAC #1 Doubles Runner-Up, All-PAC First Team, and All-PAC Academic Team all in 2007.
The tennis ace plans to continue playing and coaching the sport and currently serves as an assistant tennis professional at the DuPont Country Club in Wilmington, Delaware. He continues involvement in his other passion, photography, working for (no spelling suggestions) Photography in Hockessin, DE.
Joining Fitzgerald on the 2008 Philly-SIDA Academic All-Area Team for Men's Tennis were LaSalle University's Chris Butera, Haverford's Thomas Kinrade, Philadelphia University's Andres Novesky and Daniel Rubin and Tyler Weisel, both from the University of the Sciences.
2008 MASCAC Men's Tennis Individual Championships
Saturday, April 26 - Sunday, April 27, Wilkes-Barre, PA
Program
Tournament Results
Tennis Tournament Results - Day Two Recap
2008 Men's Tennis MASCAC Championships
Apr 26, 2008-April 27, 2008 at Kingston, PA
FITZGERALD CAPTURES THIRD CAREER #1 SINGLES TITLE, MESSIAH COLLEGE TAKES FIVE TITLES ON CHAMPIONSHIP DAY
Kingston, PA: 4/27/08: Arcadia University’s Tim Fitzgerald captured the #1 Singles crown at today’s Middle Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Conference Men’s Tennis Individual Championships at Kirby Park and FDU-Florham’s Wes Harnett took the #6 Singles Championship crown with Messiah College saturating #2 through #5 singles in championship play.
Jon Sieman (Messiah) earned the title at #2 Singles, Sam Shorts (Messiah) bested his competitors at #3 Singles, Jason Hein (Messiah) won at #4 Singles and William Tanis (Messiah) captured the #5 Singles title for an overall successful tournament for the 2008 Commonwealth Conference team champions. Heim also paired up with Luke Ruch to pull out the #3 Doubles crown.
Manhattanville College’s Julian Oribe and Lance Dorfi captured the #1 Doubles title while FDU-Florham’s Alex Bruin and John Zalesky paired up to win #2 Doubles in the championship round.
Fitzgerald, the Freedom Conference Player of the Year for 2008 faced Commonwealth Player of the Year Nate Ipsen of Messiah in the championship finals at top singles, winning 6-1, 6-3 for his third career #1 Singles conference win (previously winning the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference #1 title in 2005 and 2007). Complete Results
-- Arcadia University Sports Information
Sunday, April, 27, 2008
Tennis Tournament Results - Day One Recap
2008 Men's Tennis MASCAC Championships
Apr 26, 2008-April 27, 2008 at Kingston, PA
Kingston, PA: The courts at Kirby Park were the site for the first day of the 2008 Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Corporation Men's Tennis Individual Championships, hosted by Arcadia University, King's College and Wilkes University. Conference Executive Director Ken Andrews presented the awards for Players of the Year, Coach of the Year and All Conference selections before play commenced at 9:15 AM.
Messiah swept the major awards for the Commonwealth Conference, with Player of the Year, Nate Ipsen, Rookie of the Year, Jansen Hein and Coach of the Year Frank Petre. For the Freedom Conference, Arcadia's Tim Fitzgerald took home Player of the Years honors with Manhattanville's Julian Oribe honored as Rookie of the Year and Wilkes' Chris Leicht as Coach of the Year. Commonwealth member Messiah College and Freedom member Wilkes University took home the team championships for their respective conference last weekend.
Play moved swiftly through the morning and into the afternoon as the weather remained perfect through Saturday's opening rounds. Play opened with first and Quarter-final round doubles followed by first round and quarterfinal round singles, ending with the doubles semi-finals with the following players and teams advancing to Sunday's play.
#1 Singles -- SF
Tim Fitzgerald (Arcadia) vs. Julian Oribe (Manhattanville)
Wes McCollum (Wilkes University) vs. Nate Ipsen (Messiah College)
#2 Singles -- SF
Jonathan Siemen (Messiah College) vs. Jeff Kirkhoff (Elizabethtown College)
Lance Dorfi (Manhattanville) vs. Kyle Ungvarsky (Wilkes University)
#3 Singles -- SF
Chris Cozzillio (Wilkes University) vs. Andrew Voshell (Elizabethtown College)
Blake Bonser (King's College) vs. Sam Shorts (Messiah College)
#4 Singles -- SF
Jansen Hein (Messiah College) vs. Bryan Metz (Elizabethtown College)
Brad Sweigart (Lebanon Valley College) vs. Jon Rohrbach (Wilkes University)
#5 Singles -- SF
William Tanis (Messiah College) vs. David Boe (King's College)
Jon Gingrich (Lebanon Valley College) vs. John Zalesky (FDU-Florham)
#6 Singles -- SF
Luke Ruch (Messiah College) vs. Wes Harnett (FDU-Florham)
Gabriel Mallen (Manhattanville) vs. Matt Hotchkiss (Lebanon Valley College)
#1 Doubles -- SF
Nate Ipsen/Jonathan Siemen (Messiah College) vs. Kyle Ungvarsky/Chris Cozzillio (Wilkes University)
Robert Brown/Alexander Beattie (Lycoming College) vs. Julian Oribe/Lance Dorfi (Manhattanville)
#2 Doubles -- SF
Alex Bruin/John Zalesky (FDU-Florham) vs. Brok Walker/Bryan Metz (Elizabethtown College)
Sam Shorts/William Tanis (Messiah College) vs. Wes McCollum/Jon Rohrbach (Wilkes University)
#3 Doubles -- SF
Jansen Hein/Luke Ruch (Messiah College) vs. Jon Gingrich/Matt Hotchkiss (Lebanon Valley College)
Anthony Guerriero/Charles Marriner (DeSales University) vs. David Boe/Povl Schmidt (King's College)
#1 Doubles -- Finals
Nate Ipsen/Jonathan Siemen (Messiah College) vs. Julian Oribe/Lance Dorfi (Manhattanville)
#2 Doubles -- Finals
Alex Bruin/John Zalesky (FDU-Florham) vs. Wes McCollum/Jon Rohrbach (Wilkes University)
#3 Doubles -- Finals
Jansen Hein/Luke Ruch (Messiah College) vs. Jim Dombach/Mike Steiner (Elizabethtown College)
Sunday's play will commence with Single semifinal round action, followed by the doubles finals and singles finals.
- Arcadia University Sports Information
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Freedom Conference First Team
Commonwealth Conference First Team
Tim Fitzgerald, Arcadia Nate Ipsen, Messiah
Freedom Player of the Year Commonwealth Player of the Year
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Fitzgerald Earns Freedom Conference Player of the Year Honors
Annville, PA: 4/23/08 - Arcadia University senior Tim Fitzgerald (Wilmington, DE/St. Mark's) has been recognized by the Freedom Conference Men's Tennis coaches as the 2008 Player of the Year. Fitzgerald, who is in the middle of a 19 match undefeated streak at #1 singles will look to cap off a phenomenal career this weekend at the MASCAC Individual Championships in Wilkes-Barre, PA.
Fitzgerald has led the Knight's squad for four years, having collected numerous accolades along the way, including:
Pennsylvania Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year, PAC MVP, All-PAC First Team, PAC #1 Doubles Champion, and All-PAC Academic Team in 2005; PAC #1 Singles Runner Up, PAC #1 Doubles Quarterfinalist, All-PAC First Team, All-PAC Academic Team in 2006; PAC Player of the Year, PAC Player of the Week, PAC Weekly Honor Roll, PAC #1 Singles Champion, PAC #1 Doubles Runner-Up, All-PAC First Team, and All-PAC Academic Team in 2007 and Freedom Conference Player of the Week and Arcadia's Senior Scholar Athlete nod in 2008.
What Fitzgerald displays on the tennis courts is also evident in the classroom, as the Fine Arts major, with Business Adminstation as his minor, has acheived Dean List in every semester while at Arcadia, including the 2008 Ruth C. Grant Distinguished Achievement Award in the Fine Arts given to the outstanding senior in Fine Arts. Full Release
Mighty Macs Slip Past Knights 5-4
Immaculata, PA: 4/22/08 - Arcadia Univesity took two doubles points into singles competition at Immaculata University Tuesday afternoon, but the Mighty Macs posted wins at third and fourth doubles and settled for wins by default at five and six singles to take the 5-4 non-conference win in men's tennis. Arcadia dropped to 1-11 overall with the loss while Immaculata improved to 1-10.
Arcadia played without their top ace Tim Fitzgerald.
Arcadia's Adrell Dalsan and Bart Blankenship topped Bobby Deyoung and Dave Harlan 8-3 at top doubles while Guanying Liu and Eshaaq Mohtasebzadah edged out IU's Andre Brooks and Michael Pancoast 8-2 at #2 doubles. Dalsan and Blankenship both won easily at #1 and #2 singles while Liu and Mohtasebzadah suffered losses at #3 and #4 singles.
Lions Dominate Singles Play to Give Knights 6-3 Loss
Glenside, PA: 4/19/08 - Arcadia University got off to a good start, taking two of three doubles sets but only came away with one point from singles competition to take a 6-3 loss at the hands of Penn State University Harrisburg Saturday afternoon in Glenside.
Arcadia senior Tim Fitzgerald rolled to his 19th straight win at #1 singles, defeating Penn State's Shawn Newlin, 6-0, 6-1, but the Lions picked up wins at #2 through #6 singles. Fitzgerald began the afternoon with a convincing win with #1 doubles partner Bart Blankenship, 8-1 over Penn State's Shawn Newlin and Phil Tarkington. Adrell Dalsan and Danny Ly won their #2 doubles match over Kieth Lynn and Mikhail Joseph, 8-5.
Mike Catalano nearly pulled off a win over Donny Smith, but dropped the match in a third set tie-breaker. The Knights travel to Immaculata University on 4-22 for their final team match of the 2008 season where Tim Fitzgerald will look to cap off an outstanding career, looking for his 20th consecutive #1 singles victory.
Doubles
1) Tim Fitzgerald/Bart Blankenship(AU) def. Shawn Newlin/Phil Tarkington(PSU) 8-1
2) Adrell Dalsan/Danny Ly(AU) def. Kieth Lynn/Mikhail Joseph(PSU) 8-5
3) Alex Herr/Donny Smith(PSU) def. Eshaaq Mohtasehzadah/Guanying Liu(AU) 8-1
Singles
1) Tim Fitzgerald(AU) def. Shawn Newlin(PSU) 6-0 6-1
2) Kieth Lynn(PSU) def. Adrell Dalsan(AU) 6-2 6-1
3) Phil Tarkington(PSU) def. Bart Blankenship(AU) 6-1 7-5
4) Mikhail Joseph(PSU) def. Danny Ly(AU) 6-2 6-3
5) Donny Smith(PSU) def. Mike Catalano(AU) 3-6 6-7(7-4) 10-5
6) Alex Herr(PSU) def. Guanying Liu(AU) 6-0 6-1
Liu Claims First Collegiate Win, Fitzgerald Streak Grows to Eighteen
Philadelphia, PA: 4/15/08 - First year Guanying Liu notched his first collegiate win at #6 singles and senior Tim Fitzgerald extended his win streak at #1 singles to eighteen but the Knights dropped their seventh straight match of the season, a non-conference showdown at The University of the Sciences, 6-3.
Arcadia's Fitzgerald and Bart Blankenship dropped #1 doubles to the duo of Tyler Weisel/Ricardo Martins, 8-5 and Guanying Liu/Esaaq Mohtasehzadah made #3 doubles interesting but settled for the 8-6 loss to Ken Connelly and Jason Chen.
#1 Singles went down to the wire with Fitzgerald holding on to win number 18 in a row in a third set super tie-breaker, 6-2, 5-7, 1-0(10-7). Danny Ly also pulled out a win at #2 singles in a three set super tie-breaker, 6-4, 3-6, 1-0(10-6) while Liu took his #6 singles set win, 9-7 over Jason Chen.
Doubles
Tyler Weisel/Ricardo Martins (USP) def. Tim Fitzgerald/Bart Blankenship (AU) 8-5.
Paul Caceres/Dan Rubin (USP) def. Adrell Dalson/Danny Ly (AU) 8-0
Ken Connelly/Jason Chen (USP) def. Guanying Lui/E. Mohtasehzadah (AU) 8-6
Singles
Fitzgerald (AU) def. Weisel (USP) 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 (10-7)
Martins (USP) def. Dalsan (AU) 6-0, 6-0
Caceres (USP) def. Blankenship (AU) 6-0, 6-1
Ly (AU) def. Rubin (USP) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6)
Connelly (USP) def. Alex Shindes (AU) 8-0
Lui (AU) def. Chen (USP) 9-7
King's Pulls out 8-1 Win in Conference Closer
Wilkes-Barre, PA: 4/12/08 - It wasn't easy but the King's College Monarchs put up points when they needed them most to take a tough Freedom Conference match 8-1 over Arcadia University. The Knights put up strong performances all throughout the lineup, in singles and doubles, but in the end suffered their sixth straight loss as they drop to 1-4 in the Freedom and 1-8 overall. King's improves to 10-8 overall and 2-3 in the conference.
While Tim Fitzgerald's 6-2, 6-1 win over Nick Nojsack at #1 singles gave him his 17th straight victory, the Knights clearly gave King's about as much as they could as only one set of 16 ended without points scored by the Knights.
Bart Blankenship took David Kaluzavich to three sets before bowing 6-4, 3-6, 10-7. Mike Catalano went down in a tough #5 singles pairing, falling 6-4, 6-3 to David Boe. Adrell Dalsan lost at #3 singles, 6-3, 3-1 to Blake Bonser and Danny Ly fell at #2 singles, 6-0, 6-4 to Joanthan Hand. Guanying Liu has the best match of his young career at #6 singles, finally settling for the 7-6, 7-5 loss.
King's took all three doubles sets on the afternoon.
Arcadia will play two non-conference matches at The University of the Sciences (4-15) and at Immaculata University (4-22) before sending team representatives to the Middle Atlantic Conference Individual Championship April 27-28 at King's.
Fifth Straight Loss for Arcadia, Sixteenth Straight Win for Fitzgerald
Annville, Pa.: 4/11/08 - The Lebanon Valley College men's tennis team won its fourth straight match on Friday, pinning the 7-2 loss on Arcadia University as the Knights suffered their fifth straight loss.
Arcadia's Tim Fitzgerald eased past the Dutchmen's #1 ace Matt Grodzinski, 6-0, 6-3 to clinch his sixteenth straight match win at top singles while Danny Ly posted a big three-set win at #2 singles, 4-6, 6-2, 10-7 over Tom Neckelmann, giving the Knights their only points on the day.
While the Dutchmen (9-7) lost the top two singles flights they posted points everywhere else over the Knights (1-7). Jared Zeigler beat Adrell Dalsan, 6-1, 6-1, Brad Sweigart bested Bart Blenkenship, 6-4, 6-4, and Jon Gingrich defeated Mike Catalano, 6-2, 6-2. Matt Hotchkiss capped the win by blanking Guanying Liu at No. 6, 6-0, 6-0.
The Knights will not get much rest as they turn right around for a 1 PM match at Freedom Conference opponent King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Saturday.
Senior's Streak Continues but Men's Tennis Defeated by Neumann 7-2
Glenside, PA: 4/9/08 - [Match Box] Make it 15 straight wins at #1 singles for Arcadia ace Tim Fitzgerald as the senior registered the lone point from singles competition Wednesday afternoon at home against Neumann College. Neumann won the non-conference match 7-2. The loss drops the Knights record to 1-6 overall.
Fitzgerald and first year Bart Blankenship improved to 5-1 when paired at #1 doubles. The duo defeated John Slinka and Andrew Bitas, 8-5, while Blankenship made Neumann's Slinka work for his #3 singles win, 5-2, 6-3.
The Knights play their next five matches on the road, begining with a Friday match at Lebanon Valley College.
Alvernia Tops Knights in Non-Conference Match
Reading, PA: 4/7/08 - [Match Box]Alvernia College capitalized on a shortened Arcadia lineup to take the 6-3 non-conference victory over the Knights on Monday afternoon in Reading. Arcadia drops to 1-5 overall on the year.
Tim Fitzgerald and Bart Blankenship paired for Arcadia's lone point at #1 Doubles. The two have only dropped one double match when paired togther this season. The Knights were forced to forfeit #3 doubles and #5 and #6 singles. Fitzgerald and Blankenship provided Arcadia with their only points in singles competition as Fitzgerlad ran past Alvernia's #1 Phillip Snynder, 6-1, 6-1 to extend his win streak to 14 matches while Blankenship posted a 6-2 win in set one over Ryan Lineawearver before Lineaweaver retired the match down 1-0 in the second set.
Arcadia will host non-conference Neumann College on Wednesday before traveling to Lebanon Valley College on Friday and King's Saturday.
Fitzgerald's Streak Reaches 13 in 8-1 Men's Tennis Loss to Wilkes
Glenside, PA: 4/5/08 - [Match Box] Senior Tim Fitzgerald pushed his #1 Singles win streak to 13 matches undefeated, but the Knights bowed 8-1 to Wilkes University in Freedom Conference Men's Tennis action. The Knights drop to 1-3 in the conference and 1-4 overall while Wilkes improves to 3-1 in the league and 9-2 overall this year.
Arcadia failed to pick up a point through three set of doubles, as the three match win streak of Fitzgerald and Bart Blankenship came to end, with the pari losing to Kyle Ungvarsky/Chris Cozzillio from Wilkes, 6-8.
The Freedom Conference player of the week Fitzgerald ran to the 6-0, 6-3 win over Wes McCollum at the top ladder position for singles earning the Knight's lone point on the afternoon.
Arcadia will play a non-conference match at Alvernia on April 7 and at home April 7 against Neumann before returning to conference action at King's College on April 12.
Manhattanville Earns 6-3 Win over Knights
Purchase, NY: 4/2/08: [Match Box] Manhattanville College remains undefeated in Freedom Conference play (3-0) as the Valiants sent Arcadia packing in 6-3 win over the Knights. Arcadia falls to 1-2 in the conference.
A two-win day for Arcadia senior Tim Fitzgerald extends his singles match win streak to dozen. He began the day paried with first year Bart Blankenship to win 8-4 at #1 doubles. It was the pair's third straight win at the top doubles slot.
The Valiants picked up a crucial win at third singles, with Adrell Dalsan falling in a hard fought 6-7 (4-6), 2-6 battle. Manhattanville would go to earn the match win with 6-0, 6-0 shutouts at fifth and sixth singles, respectively.
Fitzgerald escaped his toughest matchup of the season at #1 singles against the Valiant's Julian Oribe 6-4, 7-5. Bart Blankenship earned Arcadia’s other singles win with a 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-6) at fourth singles.
The Knights will look to pick up a conference win hosting Wilkes University this Saturday at the Weiss Tennis Courts at 1 PM.
Knights Even Freedom Mark in 6-3 Defeat of DeSales
Glenside, PA: 3/29/08 - [Match Box]Arcadia Men's Tennis evened their early season Freedom Conference mark at 1-1 with this afternoon's 6-3 win over conference opponent DeSales University in Glenside. The win is also the Knight's first of the season as they stand at 1-2 and 1-1 in league action. DeSales drops to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in Freedom play.
Tim Fitzgerald cruised to the 6-0, 6-1 win over Jake Hoover at #1 singles, extending his top position win streak to 11 matches. He combined with Bart Blankenship at #1 doubles to defeat Hoover/Dan Bullen 8-0.
Arcadia took 2 of 3 in doubles action and the top four in singles competition. Danny Ly, Adrell Dalsan and Blankenship added wins in singles play. Ly defeated Joe Kindred 7-5, 6-2, Dalsan defeated Dan Bullen 7-6, 6-0 while Blankenship handily defeated Joe Sulpizio 6-0, 6-1. Catalano lost a close match at #5 singles to Guerriero, 6-3, 6-4 and Liu dropped his #6 singles match to Marriner 6-2, 6-2
Dalsan and Ly paired at #2 doubles to defeat Jon Kindred/Joe Sulpizio 8-0. Mike Catalano and Guanying Liu put up a hard fought battle at bottom doubles, losing 8-6 to Anthony Guerriero/Charles Marriner.
Arcadia returns to the courts on April 2 at Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY for a 3:30 PM Freedom Conference match.
Men's Tennis Drop First Freedom Match to FDU
Glenside, PA - 3/25/09: [Match Box] Senior Tim Fitzgerald continues to pace the Knights, picking up the lone singles point on the afternoon in the Knights 7-2 loss to Freedom opponent FDU-Florham. Fitzgerald beat FDU's top ace Adam Geiger, 6-4, 6-4, after pairing with first year Bart Blankenship to post the 8-5 win at number #1 doubles. Fitzgerald has won his last ten consecutive matches at #1 singles, thirteen including post season play, spanning across three seasons.
Along with Fitzgerald's top performance in the win at #1 singles, Blankenship would force a third set tie breaker against John Zalesky at #4 singles with Zalensky pulling out the 6-3, 7-6 win. Mike Catalano made a strong showing in the five spot, losing to Sid Dunn, 6-3, 6-2.
Catalano paired with Guanying Liu at #3 doubles in the 8-3 loss to Sid Dunn and John Gaw while Danny Ly and Adrell Dalsan settled for the 8-1 set back in #2 doubles competition.
Arcadia (0-2 overall / 0-1 Freedom) will look to pick up their first win when they host non-conference opponent Penn State Harrisburg this Thursday at 4 PM.
Fitzgerald Wins at #1 Singles but Knights drop 8-1 Decision to Philadelphia University
Glenside, PA - 3/5/08: [Match Box] Arcadia Men's Tennis played a tough season opening match to local DII opponent, Philadelphia University Wednesday afternoon in Glenside, with the Rams of PU posting the 8-1 win over the Knights. AU lost all three doubles points going into single play, walking away with one win of the six singles match.
Arcadia's top returning ace, senior Tim Fitzgerald was the sole winner for the team at #1 Singles. Fitzgerald defeated Anders Novesky 7-5, 6-3.
"It was a tough first match of the season to play a DII opponent, but we take this loss as a positive. Some of our new players needed to see the playing level they will be facing throughout the season." said coack Lak Sphabmixay.
AU will try to bounce back after the spring break against with a trip to Annville, PA to face Lebanon Valley before returning home to host Freedom conference opponent FDU-College at Florham on March 18 at 4 PM.
2008 Arcadia University Men's Tennis Season Outlook
Under his 4th season, Coach Lak Sphabmixay (Arcadia '99) will lead Arcadia Men's Tennis team into their first season in the Mid-Atlantic Conference-Freedom Conference. The Knights 2008 schedule is filled with new battles and challenges. "There are many high level of competition in the conference, and I am looking forward to see how our players produce against these teams,” says Sphabmixay. The addition of several new players to the roster has strengthened the line up significantly, flanked by a trio of returning veterans.
Senior captain, Tim Fitzgerald (Wilmington, DE) will be the top returnee after an outstanding performance last year of winning the #1 singles crown and was selected as the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference Player of the Year for Men's Tennis. Fitzgerald compiled an undefeated record competing at #1 Singles in 2007, going 10-0, while finishing 9-3 at #1 Doubles, earning #1 Doubles runner-up at PAC's. Fitzgerald also captured PAC Rookie of the Year honors in 2005.
Junior Danny Ly (Bensalem, PA) and graduate student Mike Catalano (Scranton, PA) are also returning to help lead the team in 2008. In 2007, Ly played between #2 and #4 Singles and compiled a 4-4 record at #2 Doubles. Catalano returns for his final year of eligibility and will provide true leadership to Coach Sphabmixay's four new additions to the roster.
First year players Adrell Dalsan (Manchester, CT), Bart Blankenship (Danville, PA) and Guanying Liu (Beijing, CHINA) will compete for a position in the Knight's lineup.
Philadelphia University visits Glenside for the team's home opener on March 5th. The Knights travel to Lebanon Valley on March 18th before hosting FDU-College at Florham in the Freedom Conference opener on March 25th. The Middle Atlantic Championships will be held in Wilkes-Barre, PA with the individual titles to be vied for April 19-20th and the team title April 26-27.
