Trinity Men's Tennis Closes 2008 As No. 14-Ranked Team In The Nation
Hartford, Conn., Dec. 15, 2008 - The Trinity College men's tennis team, which has earned an NCAA Division III Championship Tournament bid in eight of the last nine seasons, is ranked No. 5 in the Northeast Region and the No. 14 in the nation according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division III rankings (www.itatennis.com). Trinity junior Spencer Feldman (Upper Brookville, N.Y.) is ranked as the No. 3 singles player in the Northeast and the No. 13 singles player in the nation. The Bantams, which competed in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Open Championships and the ITA Regional Championships this fall, will return to action with a spring trip to warmer climate in March before embarking on its always-competitive New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) schedule in the spring of 2009.
Trinity, coached by Paul Assaiante (15th Season), finished the 2007-08 season with a 13-3 overall record and a 7-1 mark in the NESCAC, qualifying for the league championship tournament for the second straight season. The Bantams earned the top seed in the league tourney, but lost to eventual champion Bowdoin, 6-3, indoors at Middlebury in the NESCAC Semifinals. Trinity qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament as an at-large selection and advanced to the third round with 5-1 win over Vassar before falling at Middlebury, 5-1, indoors to close the season. The Bantams finished ranked No. 4 in the ITA Division III Northeast Regional Poll and No. 13 in the ITA Division III National Poll.
Feldman, an All-NESCAC First Teamer, the ITA Northeast Region Player To Watch, and an ITA All-American in 2007-08, finished the 2007-08 season with a team-high 15 wins and seven losses at the No. 1 singles spot and an 11-7 mark in doubles. In his first year at Trinity after transferring from Division I South Carolina, Feldman qualified for the NCAA Division III Singles Championships and won a pair of early matches to reach the quarterfinal round, and is ranked No. 5 in the Northeast among singles players. He also played his way into the ITA Regional Semifinals this fall with a 3-1 record in the tournament.
Trinity senior co-captains Gautam Samarth (Pune, India) and David Yahng (Needham, Mass.), ranked No. 5 in the Northeast in doubles, were an All-NESCAC First Team doubles tandem last season, while Samarth was also an ESPN The Magazine All-American selection. Samarth is 36-7 and Yahng is 34-18 in their respective singles careers, while the duo is 37-9 in doubles at Trinity.
The 2008 ITA Division III Men's Tennis National Top 15: 1. Washington (Mo.), 2. Emory, 3. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 4. Cal.-Santa Cruz, 5. Middlebury, 6. Williams, 7. Amherst, 8. Kenyon, 9. Gustavus Adolphus, 10. Mary Washington, 11. Bowdoin, 12. Trinity (Texas), 13. Redlands, 14. Trinity (Conn.), 15. Johns Hopkins. The 2008 ITA Division III Men's Tennis Northeast Region Top Ten: 1. Middlebury, 2. Williams, 3. Amherst, 4. Bowdoin, 5. Trinity (Conn.), 6. Bates, 7. New Jersey, 8. Colby, 9. Tufts, 10. Skidmore.
