PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Finally, a close match went in favor of the Daemen College men's tennis team. The Wildcats (4-15 overall), who had dropped seven-straight matches decided by three points or less (all this season), came through with a 5-4 win in non-conference play over University of the Sciences today.
With the match tied at 4-4, it came down to senior
Gregory Lowe (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) who was the last singles player on the court for Daemen. Lowe, who had already generated a point by virtue of his win with teammate
Joey Gentile (East Amherst, N.Y./Niagara University) in second doubles, sealed the dual-match victory for the Wildcats by winning 6-0, 6-3 over Sciences' Tajay McLeod in the sixth singles slot.
The win was Daemen's second straight as it came on the heels of the program's first-ever defeat of an NCAA Division I team. The Wildcats downed Coppin State University of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference 6-1 just two days ago, snapping a 13-match skid.
The host Devils, an affiliate of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, fell to 5-11 overall following today's loss.
The hosts took control early with a 2-1 lead after doubles action. Jake Sosonkin and Nathan Nguyen were winners in first doubles, as were Tanner Kerr and Chandat Phan in third doubles. Lowe and Gentile staved off the sweep for Daemen, picking up their team-leading fifth doubles win of the season.
When play shifted to singles, the Devils picked up wins in the first and second positions, but Daemen swept the remainder. Freshman
David Gonzalez Villegas (Pereira, Colombia/Liceo Frances de Pereira) started things off with a 6-4, 6-1 win in third singles over Borna Novak. Redshirt-freshman
Andrew LeMar (North Tonawanda, N.Y./North Tonawanda) followed suit, going nearly unblemished (6-0, 6-1) in his defeat of Phan in fourth singles. It was LeMar's 10th singles win of the season, becoming the second Daemen player with double-figure wins behind
Mark Veitengruber's (Rockford, Mich./Rockford) team-leading 12.
Fellow freshman
Justin Milner (Ithaca, N.Y./Ithaca) picked up his second win in as many matches, moving to an even 2-2 on the season with his 6-2, 6-3 win over Kerr in fifth singles.
That set the stage for Lowe, a four-year member of the team who has been around since the program's inception in 2012-13. He delivered the signature win of his career to seal the victory.
Daemen's last win in a match decided by three points or less came in their 2014-15 season finale, a 5-4 defeat of Saint John Fisher College.
With two straight wins under their belt, the Wildcats are idle until hosting East Coast Conference favorite N.Y. Institute of Technology on Saturday, April 16. That match is set for a 1 p.m. start at the Sweet Home High School Tennis Courts.
