April 27, 2008

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Johns Hopkins freshmen Casey Blythe (Louisville, KY/Saint Xavier) and Andrew Wang (Sparta, NJ/Sparta) won their singles matches to clinch a 5-0 win for the Blue Jays in the 2008 Centennial Conference Championship match Sunday afternoon. Hopkins defeated Haverford to win its second straight title and third in the last four years. The Blue Jays improve to 15-5 on the season while the Fords drop to 10-8.

At first doubles, Blythe and senior Joe Vasoontara (Bangkok, Thailand/Loomis Chaffee) won 8-0 over Tom Kinrade and Evan Stiegel to give Hopkins a 1-0 lead. The win for Blythe was his 20th of the season, breaking the JHU single-season record. Seniors Matt Naftilan (Nashville, TN/Montgomery Bell Academy) and Rafael Roberti (Summit, NJ/Summit) then won at third doubles, beating Stephen Feder and Marc Rudolph 8-3. That was Roberti's 99th career win (singles and doubles), leaving him just one shy of the century mark. Wang and sophomore David Maldow (Jericho, NY/Jericho) wrapped up doubles action with an 8-2 win at second over Marc Adelberg and Hailu Yang.

In singles play, Blythe gave the Blue Jays a 4-0 lead in the match with a 6-0, 6-0 win at fourth over Rudolph. Wang then clinched the match for Hopkins at third, beating Stiegel 6-2, 6-0. Blythe is now 20-7 on the season to become just the second player in JHU history to win 20 matches in a single season. Maldow eclipsed the mark earlier this season.

Hopkins earns the Centennial Conference automatic qualifier with the win and will make its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The Blue Jays advanced to the Sweet 16 last season. Selections and pairings will be announced on Monday, April 28. Stay tuned to www.HopkinsSports.com for details.