RPI wins Liberty League/ NCAA bid

ITHACA, N.Y. » Sophomore Sebastian Castillo-Sanchez earned a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 clinching victory at first singles as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) defeated top-seeded Skidmore College, 5-2, and captured the 2018 Liberty League Men’s Tennis Championship while earning the program’s first-ever NCAA championship bid.

Second-seeded RPI (15-3) had advanced to the championship match in 2014, 2015 and 2016, falling to Skidmore (12-6) each time. The Engineers used a fast start in doubles play to propel the team to its first title in the Liberty League’s 23-year history.

The second doubles team of McKinley Grimes and Zack Ebenfeld got RPI on the board with an 8-3 victory. The freshmen doubles team of Clay Thompson and Brian Niguidula soon followed with an 8-2 win at the third position. The first doubles pair of Castillo-Sanchez and Andrew Imrie, ranked eighth in the Northeast Region, clinched the sweep with an 8-5 win over Steven Koulouris and JT Wynne, ranked fifth in the region.

The Thoroughbreds put up a strong fight in singles play. Wynne and senior Ted Berkowitz earned straightset victories at second and

fifth singles to pull Skidmore within 3-2.

Niguidula then moved the Engineers within a point of the championship with a 6-4, 6-3 win at fourth singles.

With matches at third and sixth singles moving into third sets, Castillo-Sanchez

outlasted Koulouris in a grueling first set, 7-6 (7-4). He trailed 2-1 in the second set before running off five straight games to clinch the title for the Engineers.