MATCH INFORMATION
Match No. 22
Daemen Wildcats (6-15, 1-3 ECC) vs. District of Columbia Firebirds (6-6, 1-2 ECC)
Friday, April 13 | 11 AM | Williamsville, N.Y. | Miller Tennis Center
Match No. 23
Daemen Wildcats (6-15, 1-3 ECC) vs. Millersville Marauders (1-13, 0-4 PSAC)
Saturday, April 14 | 2 PM | Millersville, Pa. | McComsey Tennis Courts
Match No. 24
Daemen Wildcats (6-15, 1-3 ECC) vs. Jefferson Rams (4-8, 1-1 CACC)
Sunday, April 15 | 12 PM | Philadelphia, Pa. | Abraham J. Salaman Tennis Courts
THE SERVE
Daemen closes out the 2017-18 regular season with three matches in as many days, including their final home match and final ECC match of the season Friday vs. District of Columbia. After that one, the Wildcats ship out for a weekend trip to Pennsylvania where they'll face PSAC member Millersville and CACC member Jefferson.
ECC TOURNAMENT PICTURE
The ECC Championship Tournament, which features the top four teams in the final league standings, is slated for April 20-21 at the Queens College Tennis Center. The Wildcats are presently in fifth place in the ECC standings, and they can clinch their first-ever ECC Tournament berth with a win over District of Columbia on Friday. St. Thomas Aquinas (10-6, 2-3 ECC) would win a three-way tiebreaker with Daemen and District of Columbia should all three end up tied; STAC would get the tournament's No. 3 seed; Daemen would then win a two-way tiebreaker with UDC based on their head-to-head victory, and the Wildcats would be the tournament's No. 4 seed. A UDC win Friday would eliminate Daemen from conference tournament contention, and the Firebirds could end the weekend by clinching the No. 3 seed with a win Saturday at Roberts Wesleyan. NYIT (9-1, 4-0 ECC) and Queens (15-4, 4-0 ECC) have already clinched tournament berths; they meet Friday as well with the winner clinching the No. 1 seed.
THE COACH
Stephen Beatty returns for his fifth season as the head coach of the Wildcats. Over the course of his first four seasons, Beatty has guided the Daemen men's tennis team to a 25-67 record. A former collegiate player at Division II Northwood University (Mich.) and Division III D'Youville College, Beatty got his coaching start as an assistant to Kelly Brown, serving for one season--Daemen's inaugural season of tennis competition--before being promoted to the top post.
THE RETURNERS
The Wildcats return the core of their 2016-17 team which went 6-18 overall and 0-5 in ECC play. Gone however is John LeMar who graduated as the program's all-time leader in doubles wins with 33. Leading the Daemen returners is junior Ricardo Ruiz Martinez who made an immediate impact last season after transferring from American International. Ruiz Martinez became the first Daemen player to earn All-ECC accolades after he was named to the league's second-team. Ruiz Martinez posted a 10-7 mark in singles play and an 8-7 mark in doubles play last season. Also back is sophomore Fabian Wilde who tied Ruiz Martinez for the team lead in singles wins, posting a 10-15 mark, and senior Mark Veitengruber who enters his senior season already ranking as the program's all-time leader in singles wins (34). Junior David Gonzalez Villegas also returns after leading the team in doubles wins with 12 last season.
THE NEWCOMERS
Daemen welcomes four true freshmen to the mix, three of whom are expected to contribute immediately. Look for German native Tim Georg, Mexican native Pablo Martinez Hernandez and Minnesota native Jose Williamson III to be in the lineup early and often.
GEORG STARTS FAST
Freshman Tim Georg got his collegiate career off to a fast start by winning his singles draw at the Daemen Invitational Tournament which was held Sept. 15-17. Georg went 3-0 at the tournament, and picked up a pair of victories against Division I players in the process. First, Georg knocked off Colgate's Tyler Krantz in the semifinal round (4-6, 6-2, 1-0), and he followed with a 6-4, 6-1 defeat of Niagara's Josh Wilson.
VEITENGRUBER SETS CAREER WINS MARK
With wins in both singles and doubles during an 8-1 defeat of RIT on Sept. 27, senior Mark Veitengruber surpassed Gregory Lowe's program-record for combined singles and doubles wins (62). Veitengruber, already the program's all-time leader in singles wins (47), now has a combined 79 wins in his career. With 13 singles wins this season, he has tied his career-high which he set during the 2015-16 season. In a dual match on April 7 vs. NYIT, Veitengruber also became the first player in team history with 100 total singles matches in a career.
RUIZ MARTINEZ SETS SINGLE SEASON WINS MARK
With a three-set win (7-5, 4-6, 1-0) over SNHU's Ricardo Marreiros, junior Ricardo Ruiz Martinez has surpassed Mark Veitengruber's record for singles wins in a season. Ruiz Martinez has won seven of his last nine singles matches to improve to 15-8 on the season. Veitengruber had set the previous mark when he went 13-16 during the 2015-16 season.
IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Freshman Jose Williamson III has made an immediate impact in his first season for the Wildcats, racking up a team-best 11 doubles wins thus far (tied with Ricardo Ruiz Martinez and David Gonzalez Villegas for the team lead). That total places him just one shy of Gonzalez Villegas' team record for doubles wins in a season which he set last year. Williamson III is the first Daemen freshman with at least 10 doubles wins in their rookie season.
30-WIN MILESTONE
In Daemen's win over Roberts Wesleyan on April 3, junior David Gonzalez Villegas became just the fourth player in team history to reach 30 doubles wins for a career. The Colombian native teamed by Ricardo Ruiz Martinez to defeat RWC's Dennis Barlotta and Dustin Eshleman in an epic 9-8 thriller that swung the momentum in Daemen's favor. He joins former teammates John LeMar (33) and Gregory Lowe (30), and current teammate Mark Veitengruber (32) as the only players in team history with 30 doubles wins.
GEORG NAMED ECC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
After going 2-0 in singles play during the week of April 2-8, freshman Tim Georg earned ECC Rookie of the Week honors, becoming the first Daemen player to do so since teammate Fabian Wilde for February 27-March 5, 2017. Georg ousted Dennis Barlotta in three sets (3-6, 7-6, 10-6) during Daemen's 7-2 victory over Roberts Wesleyan on April 3. He came back to defeat NYIT's Rares Ispas, the ECC Preseason Player of the Year, in three sets (6-7, 6-4, 1-0) on April 7.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SCOUTING REPORT
UDC is led by ninth-year head coach T. Richard Mahaffey, III who has earned three ECC Coach of the Year awards between his work with the UDC men's and women's teams. The Firebirds, who were picked third in the ECC preseason poll, return six players from their 2016-17 team that went 6-8 overall and 3-2 in ECC play. UDC lost to perennial ECC powerhouse NYIT in the semifinal round of the conference tournament, but still earned an at-large bid to the East Regional portion of the NCAA Tournament where they were also bounced by NYIT. The UDC returners are headlined by seniors Rok Bozic and Alexis Baguelin. Bozic was a first team All-ECC selection after posting a combined singles/doubles record of 16-16 last season. Baguelin was a second team All-ECC pick after going 7-7 in both singles and doubles play last season. The Firebirds have won two straight matches, including a key 6-3 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas last week.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Daemen vs. District of Columbia: 0-4
Streak: Lost 4
Last Meeting: UDC 5, Daemen 4 | March 24, 2017 | Washington, D.C.
MILLERSVILLE SCOUTING REPORT
Millersville is a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, and the Marauders are led by Matt Helsel who is in his second season with the program. Helsel took the reins after totaling 14 conference championships and 11 NCAA Division III Tournament appearances while leading the men's and women's programs at Elizabethtown College. Wins have been hard to come by for the Marauders (1-13, 0-4 PSAC) this season. MU's roster features five freshmen and just one returning player. The Marauders, who face PSAC foe West Chester on Thursday before Daemen comes to town on the weekend, have dropped 13 consecutive matches.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Daemen vs. Millersville: 2-0
Streak: Won 2
Last Meeting: Daemen 9, Millersville 0 | March 5, 2017 | Williamsville, N.Y.
JEFFERSON SCOUTING REPORT
Jefferson is a member of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, and the Rams are led by third-year head coach Zach Elbin. The Rams were picked fourth out of five teams in the CACC preseason poll, and they return 10 players from their 2016-17 team which went 10-8 overall and 2-3 in CACC play. Jacobo Atri, Oskar Haedicke and Luis Molina, all second team All-CACC selections last season, headline the team's returners. Molina has totaled a team-high seven singles wins so far this season. Freshman Joao Pedro Molina Marcal has made an immediate impact with 10 doubles wins, tied for the team lead with sophomore Liviu Trifoi. The Rams have won two of their last three matches, including an 8-1 defeat of U. Sciences earlier this week. The Rams visit Bloomsburg (Friday) and Concordia (Saturday) before hosting Daemen to close out the weekend.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Daemen vs. Jefferson: 0-0
Streak: N/A
Last Meeting: N/A
