BOX SCOREWILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's tennis team suffered a 9-0 defeat today to University of the District of Columbia at Miller Tennis Center. The match was the East Coast Conference opener for both teams with the Wildcats falling to 5-9 overall and 0-1 in conference, and UDC evening its overall record at 4-4 while jumping out to 1-0 in league play.
Coach
Stephen Beatty's squad fell behind 3-0 after UDC rattled off a trifecta of wins in doubles action. The No. 1 doubles team of
John LeMar (North Tonawanda, N.Y./North Tonawanda) and
Mark Veitengruber (Rockford, Mich./Rockford) had their hands full with UDC's Rok Bozic and Marco Feligioni who scored an 8-3 win. In No. 2 doubles, the Firebirds' Drew Stewart and Ander Murillo were identical 8-3 winners over Daemen's
Joey Gentile (East Amherst, N.Y./Niagara University) and
Gregory Lowe (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora). Diego Pinto and Alexis Baguelin completed the sweep for UDC with an 8-0 shutout of the Wildcats'
Adam Kerr (Penfield, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit) and
John Wilson (Seneca Falls, N.Y./Mynderse) in No. 3 doubles.
Singles play saw Lowe and Veitengruber put up mild fights in the top two spots before eventually falling to Bozic and Baguelin, respectively.
Gentile pushed Murillo early in No. 3 singles action, falling 7-5 in the opening set, before Murillo picked it up with a 6-0 second-set win.
Daemen's best chance to avoid a goose-egg came in No. 6 singles where Wilson opened with a 6-2 first-set win over Stewart. However, Stewart regrouped for the Firebirds winning the second set 7-5, and took the abbreviated third-set tie-break 1-0.
Today's action was Daemen's first home match of the spring, and their first this season since a 6-3 victory over SUNY Oswego way back on Sept. 14.
Home cooking will be the norm for the Wildcats in the near future it appears. A scheduled non-conference match at Bloomsburg University for tomorrow (Sunday, Mar. 22) has been postponed due to weather. The Wildcats will host Mercyhurst University (Mar. 28), Queens College (Apr. 3) and St. Thomas Aquinas College (Apr. 4) over the next two weeks, the latter two coming in ECC play. A make-up date for the match vs. Bloomsburg is still being negotiated and will be announced when available.
