Box Score

Flushing, NY – The Hunter College men's tennis team made history on Thursday night by winning the program's first CUNY Athletic Conference Championship in over two decades after defeating the top-seeded College of Staten Island 5-1 thanks to freshman Louis Cruz (Bronx, NY/F.L.A.G.S.) who scored the fifth match point with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win at fifth singles as spectators and teammates watched on from the USTA Tennis Center in Flushing, NY.

Hunter becomes the first team other than Baruch to win a CUNYAC Team Championship, which was adopted in 2005 to replace the individual tournament where the Hawks won four championships in the late 1980s.

The Dolphins pulled out a big upset at first doubles as the team of Konstantin Trofimovich and Patrick Thomas defeated Yevgeny Perepelov (Brooklyn, NY/Keystone National) and Ian Katz (Woodside, NY/American Studies), 8-2. However, the Hawks were able to grab victories at second and third doubles to hold a 2-1 lead heading into singles play.

In a matchup many had been waiting to see, the undefeated Trofimovich went head-to-head with Hunter's Perepelov and it would be Hunter's top singles player who earned a 6-1, 6-2 victory to give his team a 3-1 match lead. Hunter then took a commanding 4-1 lead when freshman Arthur Kapetanakis (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville) defeated his long-time high school rival, Joe Taranto, 6-3, 6-0.

Just one match away from claiming the championship, the focus shifted towards fifth and sixth singles where Cruz was going point-for-point with Gary Ambartsumov and a court over, Katz was entering a tiebreaker for possession of the second set after he won the first one 7-5. Then as Katz took a six to four games lead in the tiebreaker, the celebration began on court 17 where Cruz won the third set and overall match for the Hawks.

Perepelov was named the tournament's most valuable player after going a perfect 3-0 in singles action, handing Trofimovich his first loss against a CUNYAC opponent and giving Dong Shao of John Jay his first singles loss of the season on Tuesday. "I didn't let him play his game today. In our doubles match, I could assess his weaknesses and I was able to throw a lot of things at him. I hit my spots and used a lot of slices and kept him from taking control of the match," commented Perepelov following his first singles victory.

Second-year head coach Eric Metzger had the following to say about tonight's victory, "This is great … we were able to give Hunter its' first title since 1988. We have a great coaching staff, a great administration and most of all great kids that made this all possible."

The Hawks (15-3) will now await their NCAA Regional Tournament matchup which will be announced on Monday, May 10 along with the location of the tournament which kicks off on Friday, May 14.