LATHAM, NY (October 2, 2011) -- Brothers Ben Guzick and Andrew Guzick of the Vassar College men's tennis team won the doubles draw of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Northeast Regional Championships on Sunday and advanced to the ITA Small College Championships in Mobile, Alabama on October 13-16.

“Going into college, I dreamed of playing doubles with Andrew. I'm beyond happy we won and we're really excited for Mobile,” said senior Ben Guzick.

The No. 2 seeded sibling duo won five matches en route to the title and defeated Skidmore's top-seeded team of Jimmy Sherpa, a defending ITA Regional doubles champion, and Alec Hoblitzell 6-1, 7-5 in Sunday's final.

“We played really well from the get go. We were going for our shots and had some good breaks in the first set,” said Ben Guzick. “They played better in the second set and there were no breaks until the final game.”

The Guzicks served first in the second set and picked up the set's only break at 6-5 to clinch the match in straight sets 6-1, 7-5. They held every service game of the tournament without conceding a break. Junior Andrew Guzick credited his older brother, “Ben played unbelievably, I've never seen him play so well. He didn't miss a single volley and had a high first serve percentage. It was a pleasure to play with him.”

Ben Guzick also credited his partner, “I can't ask for more from a partner, he does everything well. I have total confidence in Andrew.”

The Guzick brothers came into the tournament with a 4-0 record this Fall as they won the A Flight of the Trinity Invitational. They trained together the past Summer and won an ITA Summer Circuit event in Gainesville, Florida.

“Last Spring we were split up but over the Summer we realized we were going to play together and I felt great about our doubles coming into the season,” said Ben Guzick.

The brothers first played intercollegiate doubles together in the Spring of 2010, earned a No. 18 national ranking and were alternates for NCAA Championships. Last year, they played together in the Fall with a 4-3 record but did not play together in the Spring.

“It felt like we hadn't played together in so long. We were excited to play together again and got up for every match,” said Andrew Guzick.

The Guzicks are the second doubles team in program history to win the ITA Northeast Regional Championship. Greg Katz '11 and Max Willner '11 accomplished the feat in 2007.

This will be the second trip to the ITA Small College Nationals for Andrew Guzick as he won the ITA Northeast Regional Championship in singles last year. He finished the year ranked No. 8 nationally in singles. The ITA Small College Championships will take place in Mobile, Alabama from October 13-16 and feature the eight regional champions in a seeded tournament.

“It's unbelievable to win this tournament in Ben's senior year and go on to compete highest level of Division III together,” said Andrew Guzick.

DOUBLES RESULTS:

R1: Guzick/ Guzick [2] (VC) def. Megas/ Luchars (STLU) 8-3
R16: Guzick/ Guzick [2] (VC) def. Capozzi/ Pinto (Manhattanville) 8-2
QF: Guzick/ Guzick [2] (VC) def.  Borovcanin/Rice (Rochester) 8-5
SF: Guzick/ Guzick [2] (VC) def.  Rosensteel/Tasaki [3] (Stevens 8-1
F: Guzick/ Guzick [2] (VC) def. Sherpa/ Hoblitzell [1] (Skidmore) 6-1, 7-5