MATCH INFORMATION
Match No. 2
Daemen Wildcats (0-1, 0-0 ECC) vs. Southern New Hampshire Penmen (0-0, 0-0 NE-10)
Monday, Oct. 8 | 11 AM | Williamsville, N.Y. | Williamsville South HS Courts
THE SERVE
Daemen plays its second dual match of the 2018-19 season when hosting regional powerhouse Southern New Hampshire. The Wildcats fell to Merrimack in their opening dual match of the season on Sept. 30, and had a match with Division I Niagara postponed last week due to weather. The SNHU Penmen come to Western New York with four Northeast-10 Conference titles in the last five seasons.
MCDERMOTT ERA
The 2018-19 season marks the start of a new era for Daemen as head coach Kerry McDermott begins his first season with the program. In early July, McDermott was named the third head coach in team history after spending the last 36 seasons as the head men's tennis coach at the University of Nebraska. In that time, McDermott led the Huskers to 405 victories, the most of any coach in team history, and two NCAA Tournament appearances.
REPEAT RUIZ
Ricardo Ruiz Martinez enters his senior campaign as one of the most accomplished players in team history. After beginning his career at American International, Ruiz Martinez has earned second team All-ECC honors in each of the last two seasons since transferring to Daemen; he is the only player in team history to have earned all-conference accolades. The Valencia, Spain native established new program records for singles wins (17) and singles winning percentage (.654) last season. For his career, Ruiz Martinez ranks among Daemen's all-time leaders in combined wins (51 - 5th) and singles wins (28 - 3rd).
IMPRESSING @ ITA'S
Daemen opened the 2018-19 season by putting together the program's best-ever showing at the ITA East Region Championship held earlier this month at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The prestigious tournament brings together teams from across the NCAA Division II East Region for a weekend-long tournament. Seniors Ricardo Ruiz Martinez and David Gonzalez Villegas teamed up to advance into the quarterfinals of the doubles draw, posting a 3-1 record to do so. The Wildcats also got doubles wins from the pairs of Jose Williamson III / Fabian Wilde and Patrick O'Brien / James Schaab-Rozbicki. In singles play, both Ruiz Martinez and Wilde advanced out of the qualifying draw and into the main singles draw. Schaab-Rozbicki and O'Brien also earned singles wins in the tournament.
NEW BENCHMARK
With three doubles wins at the ITA East Region Championship, senior David Gonzalez Villegas established a new program record for career doubles wins. The Pereira, Colombia native, who opened the season with 31 doubles wins to his name, surpassed the 33-win record established by his former teammates, John LeMar and Mark Veitengruber. Gonzalez Villegas also ranks fourth in team history with 52 combined singles and doubles wins in his career.
IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Sophomore Jose Williamson III made an immediate impact last season for the Wildcats, racking up a program record 13 doubles wins. The Minneapolis native edged teammates David Gonzalez Villegas and Ricardo Ruiz Martinez who each totaled 12 doubles wins last season. Gonzalez Villegas has reached 12 doubles wins twice in his career.
SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE SCOUTING REPORT
Southern New Hampshire is a member of the Northeast-10 Conference, and the Penmen are led by head coach Greg Coache. After being named the head women's tennis coach at SNHU in 2007, he added head men's tennis coach to his title in 2010. In his first seven full seasons with the men's program, he guided SNHU to six NCAA tournament appearances and the program's first NE-10 Tournament championship in 2014. The Penmen return five players from their 2017-18 team that went 16-7 overall and 9-0 in NE-10 play. The team's returners include three first team All-NE-10 selections from last season: Tiago Fernandes, Ricardo Marreiros and Bas van Biezen. Fernandes is a two-time NE-10 Player of the Year honoree.
ALL-TIME SERIES: DAEMEN VS. SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE
Series Record: 0-1
Streak: Lost 1
Last Meeting: SNHU 8, Daemen 1 | Mar. 31, 2018 | Manchester, N.H.
