UMBC

Baltimore, Md.—The UMBC men’s and women’s tennis teams head to New Haven, Conn. for this weekend’s America East Championships. The men will be trying to defend their title, while the women attempt to better last year’s runner-up finish. Both teams are seeded No. 2 as the tournament opens on Friday, April 25.

The men open defense of the title vs. No. 3 Stony Brook on Sat., April 26 at 11:00 a.m., while the women take on the winner of the No. 3 Binghamton vs. No. 6 Hartford match on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. The men nipped Stony Brook, 4-3 on April 12 in a match played at Binghamton University, while the women’s scheduled match with the Bearcats a day earlier was postponed due to rain.

Binghamton is the top seed on the men’s side, while Boston University earned the top slot on the women’s side. The Terriers have won 13 consecutive America East titles.

SCHEDULE OF MATCHES

America East Men’s Tennis Championship
April 25-27, Yale Tennis Center-- New Haven, Conn.

Friday, April 25
Match 1 - Opening Round - #4 Boston University vs. #5 Hartford, 1 p.m.

Saturday, April 26
Match 2 -- Winner of Match 1 vs. #1 Binghamton, 11 a.m.
Match 3 -- #2 UMBC vs. #3 Stony Brook, 11 a.m.
Match 4 -- Loser of Match 2 vs. Loser Match 3, 3 p.m.

Sunday, April 27
Match 5 -- Winner of Match 2 vs. Winner of Match 3 (Championship), 11 a.m.*

America East Women’s Tennis Championship
April 25-27, Yale Tennis Center-- New Haven, Conn.

Friday, April 25
Match 1 -- Opening Round #4 Stony Brook vs. #5 Albany, 1 p.m.
Match 2 -- Opening Round #3 Binghamton vs. #6 Hartford, 1 p.m.

Saturday, April 26
Match 3 -- Loser of Match 1 vs. Loser of Match 2, 1 p.m.
Match 4 -- Winner of Match 1 vs. #1 Boston U., 1 p.m.
Match 5 -- Winner of Match 2 vs. #2 UMBC, 1 p.m.

Sunday, April 27
Match 6 -- Winner of Match 4 vs. Winner of Match 5 (Championship), 11 a.m.*

*Championship match times are subject to change by the games committee if there is a team that has a dual coach.
**In the event of inclement weather, match times will be adjusted as needed.
*** log on www.AmericaEast.com for schedule/venue changes

Probable Line-up (Spring Records)

Doubles No. 1-Pascaline Cette/Alice Chen (7-5)

Doubles No. 2-Ana Mungo/Emily Mannix (5-3)

Doubles No. 3-Cornelia Carapcea/Joy Adewumi (1-3)

Reserves-Barbara Couto, Gabi Furdyna

Singles No 1-Fr. Ana Mungo (10-4)

No. 2-Soph. Alice Chen (9-7)

No. 3-Sr. Pascaline Cette (12-2)

No. 4-Jr. Cornelia Carapcea (11-4)

No. 5-Jr. Joy Adewumi (13-2)

No. 6-Fr. Emily Mannix (9-7)

Reserves-Barbara Couto (3-2), Gabi Furdyna (nr)

Senior No. 3 Pascaline Cette has won 10 straight matches at No. 3 singles. She was named the America East Conference performer of the week on April 15. Cette competes at UMBC’s No. 1 doubles position and her overall record is 18-5 on the 07-08 season.. The native of Menton, France now has 109 career victories for the Retrievers (109-59,.649). She was a Second Team All America East in both singles and doubles in 2007 and also earned America East All-Academic recognition.

Cette and sophomore No. 2 Alice Chen comprise UMBC’s top doubles tandem. They won seven of 12 matches this spring. Chen earned Second Team All Conference honors at No. 1 doubles last season. 

Junior No. 5 Joy Adewumi led UMBC with 13 singles wins (13-2) this spring. Cette was just behind at 12-2.

Junior No. 4 Cornelia Carapcea (11-3) and freshman No. 1 Ana Mungo (10-4) also posted double-digit win totals for UMBC this spring.  Mungo was named America East Performer of the Week on April 1.

Adewumi and Carapcea were named Second Team All America East in 2007 at No. 3 doubles. The duo also both earned America East All-Academic recognition.

In doubles, freshman Emily Mannix led UMBC with 10 doubles wins this spring. Mannix competes at No. 6 singles.

► The women’s tennis team (13-3) closed the season on a 12-match winning streak.

► No. 3 UMBC reached the finals of the America East Tournament last season, falling to No. 1 Boston University, 4-0, in the title match. UMBC also reached the finals in 2004 and again dropped the title match to the Terriers.

►UMBC is 6-4 all-time in America East championship play, reaching the semifinals in 2005 and 2006.

► UMBC is now 229-157 (.593) in 22 years at the NCAA Division I level. They have winning records in 11 of the last 12 seasons. The Retrievers won six straight league championships from 1998-2003. The first of the six occurred in the Big South Conference, while the other five took place while UMBC was a member of the Northeast Conference.

► The UMBC coaching staff of Keith Puryear (UMBC, ’90) and Ale Pedergnana (UMBC, ’06) were named America East Coaching Staff of the Year in 2007. Puryear, now 213-125 (.630) in 17 seasons at the helm of UMBC women’s tennis, has earned Coach of the Year honors six times (three different conferences) since the 1997-98 season. Puryear was named the 2007 Mid-Atlantic College Coach of the Year by the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA).

► Puryear’s all-time record (men and women) now stands at 442-301 (.595).

Men

Probable Line-up (Spring Records)

Doubles No. 1-David Jackson/Irfan Shamasdin (14-4)

Doubles No. 2-Nick Savage-Pollock/Fernando Ferreria (12-5)

Doubles No. 3-Chris Meyer/Fredi Voorman (5-2)

Reserves-Logan Bricker, Leif Hollowell, John Dixon

Singles

No 1-So. Chris Meyer (7-10)

No. 2-Jr.  Nick Savage-Pollock (9-8)

No. 3-Sr. Irfan Shamasdin (10-7)

No. 4-Sr. David Jackson (14-4)

No. 5-So. Fredi Voorman (4-0)

No. 6-Sr. Fernando Ferreira (13-4)

Reserves- Logan Bricker (9-6), Leif Hollowell (nr), John Dixon (1-0)

Senior No. 6 Fernando Ferreria enters the tournament with a six-match winning streak. Ferreria is a four-time America East honoree, earning Second Team honors in singles in 2005 and 2006 and First Team in singles and doubles last season. Ferriera has 116 match victories at UMBC and is 73-29 (.716) in his last two years for the Retrievers.

Sophomore No . 2 Nick Savage-Pollock earned America East First Team honors at No. 5 singles and No. 1 doubles (with Fredi Voorman) and was an All-Academic honoree last season. He has a career doubles record of 45-28 (.616). Classmate No. 5 Fredi Voorman has won all four of his singles matches since his return from a hand injury several weeks ago. The native of Estonia owns a match record of 48-20 (.706) in his two seasons at UMBC. He was named America East Performer of the Week on April 15.

Senior No. 4 David Jackson was the 2007 America East Conference Tournament Most Outstanding Player. He leads the squad with 14 singles wins this spring (14-4) and has won nine straight matches and 14 of 15 entering the tournament. Jackson was a First Team All America East honoree last year at No. 3 singles and at No. 2 doubles (with No. 3 Singles Irfan Shamasdin). The duo is 14-4 at No. 1 doubles this spring with a six-match winning streak alive.

Jackson earned America East Performer of the Week honors on April 1.

Both Jackson and Shamasdin had 85 match victories heading into the season. Jackson now has 123 (123-87), Shamasdin owns 120 (120-84), while the other senior, Ferreria, has 116.

►UMBC is 14-4 on the season and closed the campaign with seven consecutive match victories.

►The team captured its first America East title last season with a 4-1 victory over Stony Brook. The top-seeded Retrievers defeated No. 4 Binghamton, 4-2, to advance to the title match for the first time in four America East seasons. UMBC is 5-3 in four previous America East tournaments and reached the semifinals in the first three years in league play.

►UMBC won four consecutive Northeast Conference titles from 2000-2003.

► The UMBC coaching staff of Keith Puryear (UMBC, ’90) and Ale Pedergnana (UMBC, ’06) were named America East Coaching Staff of the Year in 2007. Puryear, now 263-200 (.568) in 19 seasons at the helm of UMBC women’s tennis, has earned Coach of the Year honors three times (two different conferences) since the 2001-02 season. Puryear was named the 2007 Mid-Atlantic College Coach of the Year by the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA).

► Puryear’s all-time record (men and women) now stands at 442-301 (.595).