BOX SCORETAMPA, Fla. - The Daemen College men's tennis team, playing their first of six matches over five days in sunny Florida, fell today, 8-1, to West Chester University.
With the loss, Daemen's fourth straight, the Wildcats fall to 4-4 on the season. West Chester, of NCAA Division II and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, improved to 3-2 on the young season.
Doubles play opened with a couple of hard-fought matches. WCU's Jared Howatt and Tony Deimler downed Daemen's
Mark Veitengruber (Rockford, Mich./Rockford) and
Gregory Lowe (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora), 8-6, in the No. 1 doubles slot. That effort from the Golden Rams' top duo was strengthened by an 8-5 win in No. 2 doubles action by Lars Kristiansen and Charlie Rushing over the Wildcats'
Adam Kerr (Penfield, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit) and
Joey Gentile (East Amherst, N.Y./Niagara University).
Only Daemen's Veitengruber could breakthrough in singles action, winning his match in the No. 2 slot over Kristiansen, 6-2, 7-6.
Lowe pushed Deimler in the No. 3 singles slot, but the Golden Rams picked up the point with Deimler winning, 7-5, 7-5.
Ethan Wincowski (Lake George, N.Y./Lake George) fared well for Daemen in No. 6 singles, but fell to WCU's Andrew Peterson, 8-6, in an abbreviated match.
Daemen looks to regroup with a pair of matches tomorrow. The Wildcats face Eastern Nazarene College (12 p.m.) and University of Northwestern (5:30 p.m), both of whom are affiliates of NCAA Division III. Both matches take place at the University of South Florida Varsity Tennis Courts.
