SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Skidmore College men's tennis team readies for its annual trip to Ithaca, looking to defend its Liberty League title this weekend at the Liberty League Tournament, held at the Reis Tennis Center on the campus of Cornell University.
Skidmore, winners of the last four league titles, is the top seed by virtue of its perfect 8-0 mark in regular season play and will receive a bye into the conference semifinals. The Thoroughbreds (11-5, 8-0 Liberty League) will face the winner of No. 4 Ithaca (5-9, 5-3 Liberty League) and No. 5 Vassar (6-12, 4-4 Liberty League) on Saturday at 10 a.m.
In the second quarterfinal on Friday, third-seeded Hobart (12-6, 6-2 Liberty League) will take on No. 6 St. Lawrence (7-10, 3-5 Liberty League). The winner will face No. 2 RPI (13-3, 7-1 Liberty League) in the second semifinal at 2 p.m. The semifinal winners will meet in the men's championship match on Sunday at 10 a.m.
Skidmore, ranked 25
th in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) tennis poll, has won 38 consecutive Liberty League matches overall and have won 17 of the last 18 matches in tournament play, stretching back to 2010. Leading the way for the Thoroughbreds is sophomore
JT Wynne, who sports a team-leading 18-6 record in all singles competitions, and a 11-3 mark in dual action, mostly at No. 2. The 10
th-ranked singles player has shone against top competition, with five victories against ranked opponents. He has also won the ITA Northeast Regional Championship in the fall, finishing in seventh in the 2017 ITA Oracle Cup.
Senior
Steven Koulouris is the 25
th-ranked singles player in the nation and is enjoying a strong final season at Skidmore. Playing at the top singles slot, Koulouris has won four matches, including victories over No. 31 Alan Dubrovsky of Hobart and No. 45 Umberto Setter of NYU. He has a 10-9 record overall. Fellow senior
Travis Leaf sports an 11-9 record overall and has seven dual match victories. Sophomore
Jack McClaren entered the lineup full-time this season, and has won seven dual matches with a 12-9 record overall. Seniors
Ted Berkowitz and
Lucas Pickering round out the usual Skidmore lineup. Berkowitz is 10-5 playing at Nos. 3-5 and Pickering has four dual victories, primarily at No. 6.
In doubles, the fourth-ranked duo of Wynne and Koulouris have enjoyed a solid season together. They are 8-5 in dual matches but have really come alive in tournament play, winning the ITA Northeast Title, and finishing as semifinalists in the ITA Oracle Cup. Overall, they lead the team with 16-8 record. Leaf and Pickering have won eight matches overall together, playing at No. 2. McClaren and fellow sophomore
Jason Keye are 10-9 together overall, playing at No. 3.
