NEWARK, NJ - The NJIT men's tennis team defeated NYU on Wednesday, winning 6-1 at the Naimoli Tennis and Recreation Center.

NJIT improved to 15-5 on the season, while the Violets dropped to 2-5.

Prior to the match, third-year Head Coach Marco Matteucci and the rest of the program honored a pair of players wrapping up their careers as Highlanders. Pablo Salar Carrera joined the program prior to this season as a graduate transfer, while senior Ashwin Kanetkar has been a four-year team member. 

"Today we wanted to address our seniors and how much they've meant to the program," explained Matteucci. "Pablo has only been here one year, but he has dedicated his time to be the best he can be for our program on the practice court and as a third coach for us. He has been an unbelievable asset for us this year and I can't thank him enough for being a great leader. Ashwin has dedicated the last four years to our program like none other. Anytime we called on him over the last few years, he was ready to play and deliver a point for us when needed. He has been a team player since day one and will be very hard to replace!"

The Highlanders got on the board by earning the doubles point, winning two of three in doubles play to go ahead 1-0.

NJIT carried the momentum into singles play with five more wins including four in straight sets.

Kanetkar earned his fourth victory of the season and 28th of his career, winning 6-3, 7-5 at the #4 singles spot. 

"We wish Pablo and Ashwin the best and they will always have a home here," added Matteucci

The Highlanders will wrap up their home slate and regular season on Saturday when they host Hofstra at 2pm back at the Naimoli Tennis Center.

NJIT 6, NYU 1
Singles competition
1. Boren Zheng (NYUM) def. Nejc Skorjanc (NJIT) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
2. Oscar Callo von Platen (NJIT) def. Jingyuan Chen (NYUM) 6-2, 6-4
3. Pavel Petrov (NJIT) def. Louis Frowein (NYUM) 6-1, 5-7, 6-4
4. Ashwin Kanetkar (NJIT) def. Ronak Khara (NYUM) 6-3, 7-5
5. Tom Sorin (NJIT) def. Zachary Freier (NYUM) 6-1, 6-1
6. Severin Risan (NJIT) def. Ryan Shayani (NYUM) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Alexander Lee/Boren Zheng (NYUM) def. Pablo Perez Ramos/Pablo Salar Carrera (NJIT) 6-4
2. Pavel Petrov/German Lopez Andujar (NJIT) def. Louis Frowein/Jingyuan Chen (NYUM) 6-2
3. Nejc Skorjanc/Oscar Callo von Platen (NJIT) def. Zachary Freier/Cooper Smith (NYUM) 6-3