Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team

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Men's Tennis 4/20/2017 10:41:00 AM Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications

Ruiz Martinez Earns Second-Team All-ECC Honors

AMHERST, N.Y. - Daemen College men's tennis player Ricardo Ruiz Martinez (Valencia, Spain/American International College) has been named a second-team All-East Coast Conference selection for the 2016-17 season. The All-ECC teams, voted on by the league's six head coaches, were announced via press release this morning from league headquarters in Central Islip, N.Y.

Ruiz Martinez, a 5-foot-8 sophomore who joined the team this spring after transferring from American International College, becomes the first player in team history to earn all-conference honors. The Daemen men's tennis team began play as an independent for the 2012-13 season, and joined the ECC the following year.

The newcomer made an immediate impact for coach Stephen Beatty's team, going 10-7 in singles play and 8-7 in doubles matches. His 10 singles wins tied for the team lead (with freshman Fabian Wilde) and the rank tied for fourth in team history for singles wins in a season. After a slow start, Ruiz Martinez won eight of his final 10 singles matches, including a string of five consecutive before missing the team's final two matches with an injury.

Ruiz Martinez's prowess included records of 3-0 (singles) and 2-1 (doubles) against ECC foes. The highlight came on April 1 against preseason league favorite N.Y. Institute of Technology when he teamed with fellow sophomore David Gonzalez Villegas to defeat Rafael Charkiewicz and Rares Ispas - the No. 2 ranked doubles pair in the East Region. He then went on to defeat David Jiang, the No. 15 ranked singles player in the region, in singles play that day.

The announcement today marks the second-straight season with a postseason accolade for Ruiz Martinez who was named to the Northeast-10 Conference All-Rookie Team for 2015-16 while competing for AIC.

As a team, Daemen finished the 2016-17 season at 6-18 overall, one win shy of tying the program record for wins in a season.

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

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Players Mentioned

David Gonzalez Villegas: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Fabian Wilde: 5' 8"; Freshman

Ricardo Ruiz Martinez: 5' 8"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

David Gonzalez Villegas
: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Fabian Wilde
: 5' 8"; Freshman

Ricardo Ruiz Martinez
: 5' 8"; Sophomore