For the Third Year in a Row, Knights Earn Singles Championship. :: Andrew Bitar upset the 1st and 2nd seeds en route to his first singles championship title as a Knight.

Andrew Bitar upset the 1st and 2nd seeds en route to his first singles championship title as a Knight.

April 23, 2007

Reading, Pa. - In a two day tournament event at the West End Racquet Club in Reading, Pennsylvania, the Neumann Knights men's tennis team earned the best finish in program history with a singles championship title at No. 4 singles and 3 second place finishes in the 2007 PAC Men's Tennis Championship.

The first day of competition saw 1st seeded Neumann Knights Barry Harvey and Matthew Ford, who were undefeated on the season at No. 2 doubles, advance to the semifinals by defeating Eric Miller and Erik Potemski of Gwynedd Mercy College 8-2. The pair advanced to the finals after overpowering Cabrini's John Casparro and Drew Brandstetter 8-4 but fell 8-5 to Alvernia's David Emkey and David Schaeffer, who in their semifinal appearance upset 2nd seed Eric Walters and Case Roman 8-4, for the Championship.

The No. 3 doubles pair of Andrew Bitar and Steve Klenk, seeded 2nd, advanced to the semifinals after shutting down Marywood's John Domider and Mike Anderson 8-0 in the quarterfinals. They went on to face Justin Walsh and Duff O'Conner of Cabrini but lost an 8-2 decision to the eventual champions in the semifinal.

At No. 1 doubles Dan Harnos and John Slinka were edged out by Jeremiah Thomas and Chris Balicki of Gwynedd Mercy 9-7 in the quarterfinals.

Quarterfinal singles play closed out the first day of the Championship with Neumann's Steve Klenk, Barry Harvey, Andrew Bitar and Dan Harnos all advancing to the semifinals rounds in their perspective positions.

On day two the Knights continued to be a force on the courts. Andrew Bitar took out 2^nd seed John Casparro of Cabrini in the semifinals 6-4, 6-1, after defeating Marywood's Chad McKee in the quarterfinals on Friday. Immediately following his win over the 2-seed, Bitar took on the undefeated Kyle Levengood of Alvernia College in the Championship where he upended the first seed 6-0, 6-1 to earn his first PAC Championship title at No. 4 singles.

Barry Harvey returned to the PAC championship spotlight as the 2^nd seed at No. 5 singles. The three-year veteran advanced to the finals after defeating Drew Brandstetter of Cabrini 6-1, 6-2 in the quarterfinals and Luke Melillo of Wesley 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the semi-finals. The 2006 PAC 6^th singles champion fought hard but fell short in his quest for his second championship title falling to David Schaeffer of Alvernia 6-4, 3-6, 1-6 in the finals.

Sophomore Steve Klenk made his first championship tournament appearance at No. 6 singles. Klenk, seeded 2^nd, defeated Dave Lomas of Gwynedd Mercy 6-1, 6-1 and Jon Falcon 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the championship. In the championship Klenk was defeated in a three set match by first seed Duff O'Connor of Cabrini College 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.

Prior to the start of the tournament the PAC conference office announce that Head Coach Christian Gosseaux was named 2007 PAC Men's Tennis Coach of the Year. At the conclusion of the tournament Neumann Knight Andrew Bitar was named First Team All-PAC while Barry Harvey, Steve Klenk, and Matthew Ford all received Second Team All-PAC honors.