From University of Rochester Athletics
Sophomore Sahaj Somani rallied from 4-1 down in the third and final set of his match to earn the final point of a 5-4 victory for the University of Rochester men's tennis team over NYU in the 7th place match of the UAA Championship at Sanlando Park.
Somani picked up a 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 win over Joshua Piatos at #6 singles, helping the Yellowjackets avenge a loss to the Violets from two weeks ago. Rochester ends its season at 8-13, while NYU drops to 4-9 on the year.
It was a back-and-forth match throughout, as NYU held a 2-1 lead after doubles play. At #3 doubles, Piatos and Vishal Walia scored the opening point with an 8-3 win over Tanmay Thakkar and Somani. NYU's Michael Li and Benedict Teoh then won 8-5 over Rochester's Damani Eubanks and Peter Huang at the #2 spot.
At first doubles, the Yellowjackets Masaru Fujimaki and Yifan Shen picked up a clutch point in a marathon match against Zeb Zheng and Umberto Setter. Rochester took that match 9-8, winning 7-5 in the tiebreak.
In singles, UR senior Jun Yuminaga quickly pulled the Yellowjackets even in the overall match, winning 6-1, 6-1 over Walia at #2 singles. Shen then gave UR the lead with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Stefan Rodic at the #3 spot.
NYU's Zheng pulled the Violets back even at 3-3 overall, winning 6-2, 7-5 over Thakkar at four.
Huang once again edged Rochester ahead, rallying after dropping the first set 6-2 to Aaron Mackie, with 6-2, 6-4 wins in the final two sets to make the score 4-3 UR.
At #1, nationally ranked singles player Setter then defeated Fujimaki in straight sets 6-3, 7-5 to even the match at 4-all, sending the sixth singles match into a winner-take-all situation.