Fort Wayne, IN — The Goshen College men’s tennis team made head coach Stan King a prophet this weekend, improving on its Mid-Central Conference sixth-place regular-season finish to post a fourth-place result in the MCC Tournament, the program’s best post-season finish since the 2003 season.
Perhaps not as predictable was the MCC Championship captured by senior Beakal Girma and freshman Sashi Sabanathan at number one doubles, however, as the tandem entered the weekend seeded third before running three straight matches to capture the title at the flight. The championship was the first for Goshen since the conference changed to a flighted format in the 2000 season.
“We knew we had a good chance of bettering our sixth-place round robin finish at this tournament, and our guys played hard and with spirit, holding this goal in mind,” said King, who completed his ninth season at the helm of the program. “This was the highest (finish) our men’s team has achieved in tournament play in a number of years, and the guys on the team are really excited by the outcome.”
In this decade, only Goshen’s 2002 and 2003 teams equaled this year’s MCC Tournament finish — both those teams finished fourth in post-season play — but neither could post the kind of improvement that this year’s squad did. Goshen finished second in regular-season play in 2002 and fourth in 2003. This season, King’s squad finished with just a 2-5 record against MCC opponents during the regular season.
“One can always see how the draw or points could have gone the other way, but overall the guys were focused and played well,” King said of the weekend played at Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran High School. “They certainly showed improvement as players and as a team during the course of the season, and as coach I’m pleased to have been a part of it.”
Perhaps no players showed as much improvement as Girma and Sabanathan at the top doubles’ slot, as the duo posted a 4-2 record during the regular season before cruising their way to the MCC title over the weekend. With windy and chilly conditions setting the stage for most of play during the three-day event, Girma and Sabanathan posted an 8-3 win over Grace College’s Brandon Conley and Jason Sells to open play and followed with an 8-6 win over second-seeded Bethel College tandem Kiko Cortez and Jered Shriner.
The pair then knocked off the fourth seed — Indiana Wesleyan University’s Ben Bischoff and Micah May — in the championship, winning by an 8-4 count.
“The big highlight for us was the 8-4 win in the championship match where Beakal and Sashi won an exciting, well-executed match over Wesleyan’s team of Ben Bischoff and Micah May,” King said. “This was our first championship win since the tourney changed from a team against team to a flighted format in 2000. We took a quick 3-0 and 4-1 start, before Wesleyan came back to 5-3 and 6-4. But that’s the closest Wesleyan could get. Beakal and Sashi ended the season as obviously the best doubles team in conference. The other tournament wins on their way to the championship were over Grace and Bethel, with Bethel beating them during round robin play.”
Sabanathan’s championship experience was not limited to doubles action on the weekend, as the freshman was able to advance to the title round of the number two singles flight before falling to fourth-seeded Jorge Brumicky of Taylor University by a 6-2, 6-3 count. That loss was especially painful for Sabanathan, as the third seed in number two singles had beaten the Trojans’ player by a 6-3, 6-3 count in the season-opener on Sept. 4 (click here for article).
“It’s easy to think that way, but Sashi had two nice wins over (Indiana Wesleyan’s) Ben Bischoff and (Huntington University's) Gonzalo Vivas, (the latter being) an opponent he had lost to earlier in the season in three sets,” King said. “While he was disappointed to get so close and not come away with another championship, his getting there was awfully impressive in its own right.”
Sabanathan and Girma were the Leafs’ only doubles’ squad to advance past first-round competition, while Girma (number one singles), freshman Alex Dominguez (number three singles) and sophomore Joel King (number four singles) all picked up points in advancing to second-round action in their respective flights. Dominguez and Joel King provided the most resistance in their semi-final matches, as both fell to higher seeds in three-set matches before exiting the tournament.
“Joel King’s first round, three-set win over Spring Arbor University’s Matt DeRose and second round, three-set losses to Bethel’s Ryan Yoder were both cliff- hangers,” Stan King said. “The win over DeRose featured a five-game win streak after a 2-5 deficit in the third set to win it 7-5. Three-setters have typified much of Joel’s conference play at number four singles this season as four of seven round robin matches were also three-setters.”
Goshen’s only other seeded player in singles action — freshman Chanuk Algama at number six singles — dropped a heartbreaking 6-0, 3-6, 6-2 decision to Spring Arbor’s Brendan Blomfield in opening-round play, an opponent he defeated in three sets during regular-season action (click here for article).
Goshen tallied a total of eight points on the weekend, surpassing Spring Arbor (seven), Bethel (four), Huntington (three) and Grace (zero) en route to its fourth-place finish. Taylor University concluded a dominant run by Indiana Wesleyan, winning the team title with 18 points overall.
Girma and Sabanathan were each selected to All-MCC honors as a result of their play. The award was the second straight for Girma. Taylor’s Don Taylor was voted MCC Coach of the Year following his team’s tournament title.
“It really was a good season for us,” Stan King said. “We were able to blend some new talent with our returning guys, and for the most part we improved as the season continued. Even though we lose a couple talented seniors in Beakal Girma and Ashe Abebe, we’ll have high expectations for next year.”
Final Results:
Taylor University — 18 points
Indiana Wesleyan University – 12 points
Marian College — 11 points
Goshen College — 8 points
Spring Arbor University — 7 points
Bethel College — 4 points
Huntington University — 3 points
Grace College — 0 points
First round singles:
#1 Beakal Girma (#3 seed) def Brad Mustin (Marian) 7-5, 1-6, 6-0
#2 Sashi Sabanathan (#3 seed) def Ben Bischoff (Wesleyan) 7-5, 6-1
#3 Alex Dominguez (#3 seed) def Brice Fairchild (Marian) 6-2, 6-3
#4 Joel King (#4 seed) def Matt DeRose (Spring Arbor) 2-6, 6-1, 7-5
#5 Carson Vanderbossche (#3 seed, Wesleyan) def Sheldon Good 6-1, 6-0
#6 Brendan Blomfeld (Spring Arbor) def Chanuk Algama (4th seed) 6-0, 3-6, 6-2
Second round singles:
#1 Felipe Bedon (#1 seed, Taylor) def Girma 6-4, 6-4
#2 Sabanathan (#3 seed) def Gonzalo Vivas (2nd seed, Huntington) 6-3, 6-4
#3 Dave Cavender (#2 seed, Spring Arbor) def Dominguez 3-6, 6-2, 6-0
#4 Ryan Yoder (#1 seed, Bethel) def Joel King 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
Championship singles:
#2 Jorge Brumicky (#4 seed, Taylor) def Sabanathan 6-2, 6-3
First round doubles:
#1 Beakal Girma/Sashi Sabanathan (#3 seed) def Brandon Conley/Jason Sells (Grace) 8-3
#2 Dave Cavender/Matt DeRose (#4 seed, Spring Arbor) def Alex Dominguez/Joel King 8-2
#3 Dreu Dawkins/Nate Gentry (#2 seed,Wesleyan) def Sheldon Good/Ashe Abebe 8-4
Second round doubles:
#1 Girma/Sabanathan (#3 seed) def Kiko Cortez/Jered Shriner (#2 seed, Bethel) 8-6
Championship doubles:
#1 Girma/Sabanathan (#3 seed) def Ben Bischoff/Micah May (#4 seed, Wesleyan) 8-4
Click Here For Complete
2007 Season News
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  Senior Beakal Girma and freshman Sashi Sabanathan
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2008
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