Sept. 23, 2001

MERCER COUNTY PARK, N.J. (www.lafayette.edu) - The Lafayette men's tennis team traveled to Mercer County Park, N.J. this weekend and captured its first-ever ECAC Tournament title, edging out Towson by one-half point. The Leopards finished with 18 and 1/2 total points while Towson took second place with 18 points.

The Leopards were led by No. 1 singles player Matt Coin (Wenonah, N.J./Gateway) who won the first Men's Open South Division Championship by downing the defending champion Alex Tavneam of St. Peter's 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in the finals. The freshman defeated Towson's Bryan Rowland 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 in the semifinal round.

Junior co-captain H'Cone Thompson (Washington, D.C./DeMatha) won the No. 2 singles spot by defeating Vishal Varchefe of Concordia 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinal round, and Dowling's Ilyo Ivernov 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the finals.

Junior Ryan Collins (Whitehouse Station, N.J./Hunterdon Central Regional) also faired well this weekend, advancing to the finals after beating St. Joseph's Vanhomer Pangiliman 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Collins lost in the finals to Cristano Borelli in a hard-fought match 6-4, 7-5.

The Lafayette doubles team of Mike Durette (Avon, Conn./Suffield Academy) and Devin Murphy (Buxton, Md./Boys Latin School) advanced to the final round of the tournament. They split the first two sets 6-4, 4-6 before losing 10-6 in a tiebreaker to the Tigers.

Lafayette returns to action on Sept. 28 when they travel to Monmouth for a 3:30 match.