YU Tennis Team Defeats CUNY Powerhouse to Remain Undefeated

The tennis Macs raised their record to 6-0 Sunday with an impressive victory over previously unbeaten College of Staten Island (CSI), a winner over NYU and this year’s CUNY champion.

The 6-3 victory was the 35th win in a row for the Macs, who have not lost since 1994.

The stars for Yeshiva were Edon Hirt, Jeff Taub and David Schwartz, each winning in singles and doubles. Hirt won in straight sets; Schwartz needed three sets to prevail; and Taub dropped the first set before rallying back to triumph in three sets. Hirt and Taub paired up for #3 doubles, while Schwartz teamed up with Tsvi Zilbershteyn for #2 doubles. In both matches, the Macs came up on top.

The CSI Dolphins got strong performances from their top two seeds, David Ng (no, it’s not a typo, but pronounced "eng") and Mark Wantowsley, who beat Josh Hasten and Zilbershteyn, respectively. Ng and Wantowsley also doubled up to beat Hasten and Shai Samet in an exciting, three-set doubles match. But Samet was victorious for the Macs in #3 singles.

"On a day when our top players struggled in singles, Hirt, Taub and Schwartz really stepped it up," Coach Jon Bandler said. "Especially a first year player like Taub – He lost that first set but turned around and played like a veteran the last two sets."

Last week, the Macs beat City College 7-2. Singles winners included Hasten, Samet, Hirt, Taub, and Oren Koslowe. Hasten and Samet also defeated their opponents in doubles, as did Hirt and Micha Porat.

On Sunday April 5th, for the second straight year, the Macs won the Valiant Invitational Tournament held at Manhattanville College, beating the host school, Stevens Tech and Baruch. Shai Samet took home the Tier II singles championship and Zilbershteyn and Koslowe were awarded with Tier II doubles plaques. Unfortunately, Hasten lost in a tough Tier I Singles final to Manhattanville’s #1 player.

The closest match of the year occurred back in March versus Brooklyn College. After 5 of the singles matches were complete, the Macs were down 2-3 (overall score) with the last singles match, the #2 spot, heading toward a third set. It was all in the hands of the Macs’ #2 seed, Tsvi Zilbershteyn. Although he lost the second set, Tsvi came through in crunch time and dominated the third set thereby tying up the team score at 3-3. In doubles to follow, the Macs took 2 out of 3, and hence won by the final score of 5-4.

The final 3 matches of the tennis season, York, St. Joseph’s and Bard, promise to be competitive as well, but the tennis Macs are determined to carry on their tradition.