April 25, 2004

GENEVA, N.Y.--The top-seeded Hobart tennis team held serve this afternoon capturing the UCAA Championship with a 6-1 victory over third-seeded Skidmore. The Statesmen wear the UCAA crown for just the second time, after capturing the inaugural title in 1996.

Hobart's top two doubles teams both emerged victorious to give the Statesmen the match's opening point.

The defending champion Thoroughbreds (5-4) pulled even when junior Russell Cloder (RCDS/Hastings, N.Y.) won in straight sets at second singles 6-1, 6-0.

Just moments later, junior Peter Piné (Princeton/Princeton, N.J.) wrapped up a straight set victory for Hobart at No. 1, 6-2, 6-0. He completed the regular season with a team-best 20-6 record.

First-year Matt Silver (Weston/Weston, Conn.) gave the Statesmen a 3-1 lead after posting a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 4.

Sophomore Adam Raffa (Concord-Carlisle/Concord, Mass.) won the decisive point, 6-1, 7-5, at third singles.

With the match decided and Hobart leading both remaining singles matches, the Skidmore coach opted to default both matches, leaving Hobart a 6-1 win.

The triumph raised Hobart's record to 17-3, the most wins in the program's 69 seasons. The Statesmen's .850 winning percentage is the seventh highest in the program's history and the best since the 1982 club went 10-1 (.909).

In the tournament's third place match, fourth-seeded St. Lawrence upended No. 2 seed Vassar 4-1. Sixth-seeded Union defeated No. 5 Rensselaer in the fifth place match 4-0.