Stephen Beatty announced the fall portion of the Daemen men's tennis team's 2016-17 schedule today

Men's Tennis 7/11/2016 12:04:00 PM

Men's Tennis To Open Fall Season On September 10

Wildcats To Play Six Dual Matches, Partake In Two Tournaments This Fall

AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's tennis team visits Fairmont State University on September 10 to open its 2016-17 schedule, head coach Stephen Beatty announced today as the Wildcats' fall schedule was revealed. Daemen will play six dual matches and partake in two tournaments this fall in preparation for the championship segment of their 2016-17 campaign which comes during the spring semester.

"We've picked up some new Division II opponents this fall, and I believe our fall schedule will set us up for an exciting spring season," said Beatty who enters his fourth season at the helm.

In the season opener, the Wildcats will meet the FSU Falcons for the second time in team history, having scored a 7-2 victory in the previous matchup which came on October 11, 2014. The Falcons are coming off an 8-15 campaign last season, including a 3-4 mark in Mountain East Conference play which earned them a spot in the MEC Tournament.

Daemen enters tournament play on September 24 at the Bloomsburg Invitational hosted by Bloomsburg University of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. It'll mark the second time in the last three seasons that Daemen has been a participant in the tournament. The full tournament field has yet to be announced.

The Wildcats' home opener takes place on September 30 when they take on Southern New Hampshire University of the Northeast-10 Conference at the Ellicott Tennis Courts on the campus of the University at Buffalo which will once again serve as Daemen's outdoor venue. The match will mark the first-ever meeting between Daemen and SNHU, the defending NE-10 Conference champs who went 14-8 last season while advancing to the East Regional portion of the NCAA Tournament.

That weekend will conclude with the second edition of the Daemen Invitational which was instituted last year. In addition to the host Wildcats, participating teams include SNHU, St. John Fisher College and Rochester Institute of Technology.

On October 5, Daemen hosts Niagara University in a Division II-Division I showdown. The Wildcats and Purple Eagles met for the first time last season with the latter pulling out a tight 5-3 win at Miller Tennis Center. The match in early March came a month before Daemen earned its first-ever victory against a Division I opponent by defeating Coppin State University 6-1.

DC's fall campaign ends with three straight road matches over Columbus Day weekend. Daemen visits Division III Houghton College on October 8, marking the fourth straight season that the Wildcats and Highlanders have met. Daemen owns a perfect 3-0 record in the series which includes a 9-0 shutout victory last season. The Wildcats then head west for contests versus University of Findlay (October 10) and Walsh University (October 11). Findlay went 11-12 last season, and Walsh posted an even 12-12 mark. The October matches will mark the first-ever meeting for Daemen with both schools in men's tennis.

Daemen's spring schedule, which includes five East Coast Conference matches, will be announced at a later time.

Beatty's squad battled through injuries and went 5-17 overall and 0-5 in ECC play last season, ending the year by winning three of their final five matches. Among the team's returners are a pair of players who posted double-figure singles wins in junior Mark Veitengruber (Rockford, Mich./Rockford) and redshirt-sophomore Andrew LeMar (North Tonawanda, N.Y./North Tonawanda). Veitengruber's 13 singles victories last season broke his own program record.

For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen women's tennis team, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenTennis on Twitter.

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Players Mentioned

Andrew LeMar: 5' 7"; Redshirt Freshman

Mark Veitengruber: 6' 0"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Andrew LeMar
: 5' 7"; Redshirt Freshman

Mark Veitengruber
: 6' 0"; Sophomore