HomeArticles2015 Men’s National Team Championships: F, G, and H Finals

2015 Men’s National Team Championships: F, G, and H Finals

Hartford, CT — Boston College. Swarthmore, and Vassar won their division finals at the 2015 Men’s National Team Championships.

F Division (Serues Cup): Boston College and Boston University last met in a division final in 2013, when the Eagles defeated the Terriers 6-3 to win the Chaffee Cup and the E Division. This season, BU upset two teams seeded above them — Bryant and Northwestern — to have another shot at a division title. The Terriers’ run didn’t survive the final. BC jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the first flight of matches and swept the second flight to clinch their first Serues Cup early. BU didn’t give up easily, though, taking multiple matches to five games, even after the outcome of the team match had been decided.

G Division (Hawthorn Cup): Last season, the College of Charleston bounced Swarthmore from the first round of the Serues Cup with an 8-1 win. Swarthmore exacted revenge for that loss today, defeating CoC 6-3 in the Hawthorn Cup final. The match got off to a rather unusual start in the first flight. CoC’s Luke Schweitzer had broken his racquet hand earlier in the season and had only recently been cleared to play — with his non-dominant hand. Schweitzer was playing #9 for the Cougars against Swarthmore’s Brian Lee, and the tournament director had to intervene when it appeared Schweitzer switched back to playing with his dominant hand. After losing the first game 5-11, Lee came back to win in four for Swarthmore. The Cougars won the #6 and #3 matches to take a 2-1 lead overall, but the Garnet swept the next flight of matches. Needing only one win in the final flight to take the G Division title, Swarthmore got two: a four-game win from Henry Ortmeyer at #1 and a five-game win from Matthew Ho at #4. This is Swarthmore’s first Hawthorn Cup as well as their first division title.

H Division: Coming into the Men’s National Team Championships, Vassar and Bard had already played each other three times during the regular season, with Vassar leading the season series 2-1. Today’s match proved how close the two teams were: after two flights of matches, the score was tied 3-all. In the final flight, Vassar’s Vincent Mencotti won in five games at #1; Bard’s Abe Etkin won in five at #4. With the match tied 4-all, the Hawthorn Cup came down to the #7 match between Vassar’s Ben Kurchin and Bard’s Francesca Cornali. Cornali won the first game, and then she and Kurchin traded the next three games. After Kurchin won the fourth 11-3, Cornali stormed out to a lead in the fifth. But Kurchin came from behind to win 11-9, giving Vassar the win. This is only the second year the H Division has been played, and this is Vassar’s first division title at the Men’s National Team Championships.

 

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