SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – #29 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute defeated Union College by an 8-1 score in Liberty League men's tennis action on a beautiful and windy Tuesday afternoon at the Union Tennis Courts.
 
RPI (10-2, 6-0 Liberty League) clinched first place in the regular-season standings with the victory, while Union (4-8, 2-3 Liberty League) falls into a tie for fifth place in the conference standings with three conference matches left. However, with matches remaining against the fourth-, fifth- and seventh-place teams in the league, the Dutchmen still have plenty left to play for in the search of a postseason berth.
                                                                                                                                                                                      
The Dutchmen had a tough time to start the day against a strong Engineer squad, taking just five games in the three doubles matches.
 
The bright spot for the Dutchmen again continued to be senior Cameron Klepper, who improved his singles winning streak to six matches and moved to 4-1 in conference play with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Bryce Burnham at sixth singles. The senior is a perfect 6-0 at sixth singles so far this season.
 
Sophomore Dimitris Binopoulos nearly took his fourth-singles match against Abraham Yohannes to a third set, coming up just short in the second set of his 6-3, 7-5 final. First-year Ian Schunk also came one break short of forcing a third set in his fifth-singles match, falling by a 6-3, 6-4 score to Suhas Krishnan.
 
The Dutchmen return to action on Friday with a big conference clash at St. Lawrence University beginning at 4 p.m. in Canton.