AMHERST, Mass.— The Yeshiva University men's tennis team made University history, again! This time by being the first Yeshiva University team to win an NCAA Division III tournament match, as the Maccabees defeated Colby-Sawyer College, 5-3, in the first round of the NCAA Division III men's tennis championship on Thursday morning.
 
As a result, the Maccabees advance into the second round and will play on Friday at 10 a.m. against defending NCAA Division III national champion Amherst College, who is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation in the most recent NCAA Division III / ITA poll.
 
The Maccabees took control of the match from the outset by sweeping the doubles matches and jumping ahead 3-0. At No. 1 doubles, Skyline Conference Player of the Year, David Papis Elon and Eitan Rudansky earned an 8-5 victory over the Colby-Sawyer duo of Rico Bailey and Cass McCann. At No. 2 doubles, same score of 8-5, as Steven Jemal and Charles Saka earned the win over Colby-Sawyer's Justin Pinard and Andrew Peloquin. At No. 3 doubles, Robby Rubin and Dmitri Lebedyev earned a 9-7 victory over the Chargers' Dean Boodakian and Sergio Spassof.


When the match moved to singles competition, the Chargers earned the first two wins to make the score 3-2. Boodakian earned a 6-0, 6-0 win over Robby Rubin at No. 6, before Spassof beat Adam Wannon 6-0, 6-1 at No. 4.
 
After Colby-Sawyer narrowed the gap, the Maccabees went ahead 4-2 when Lebedyev got a win at No. 2 singles, 6-0, 6-2, over Bailey to leave Yeshiva just one point away from securing the first NCAA tournament win in Yeshiva athletics history.
 
The Charges though pulled closer and made the score 4-3 when Peloquin beat Jemal 6-4, 6-4 in the No. 3 slot leaving just No. 1 singles and No. 5 singles left.
 
The final two matches both went into deciding sets. At No. 1, Papis Elon had won 6-4 over McCann in the first set, before losing to him 6-4 in the second set. At No. 4, Charles Saka won 7-5 in the first set against Ryan Broderick and lost 6-4 in the second set.
 
Papis Elon, who had been undefeated all season long, remained so by blowing away McCann 6-0 in the deciding set to secure the win and improve to 15-0 in singles play, with a match with Amherst College set for Friday morning at 10 a.m.
 
"The guys are really looking forward to playing Amherst," said Rubinstein. "They have proven to be the best of the best and we are looking forward to facing them."
 
Tennis Match Results
Colby-Sawyer vs Yeshiva University
May 07, 2015 at Amherst, Mass.
(Amherst Courts)
Yeshiva University 5, Colby-Sawyer 3
Singles competition
1. Papis Elon, David (YU-M) def. Cass McCann (CSCM1415) 6-4, 4-6, 6-0
2. Lebedyev, Dmitri (YU-M) def. Rico Bailey (CSCM1415) 6-0, 6-2
3. Andrew Peloquin (CSCM1415) def. Jemal, Steven (YU-M) 6-4, 6-4
4. Sergio Spassof (CSCM1415) def. Wannon, Adam (YU-M) 6-0, 6-1
5. Saka, Charles (YU-M) vs. Ryan Broderick (CSCM1415) 7-5, 4-6, 1-0, unfinished
6. Dean Boodakian (CSCM1415) def. Rubin, Robby (YU-M) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. Papis Elon, David/Rudansky, Eitan (YU-M) def. Rico Bailey/Cass McCann (CSCM1415) 8-5
2. Jemal, Steven/Saka, Charles (YU-M) def. Justin Pinard/Andrew Peloquin (CSCM1415) 8-5
3. Rubin, Robby/Lebedyev, Dmitri (YU-M) def. Dean Boodakian/Sergio Spassof (CSCM1415) 9-7
Match Notes:
Colby-Sawyer 12-11
Yeshiva University 13-3