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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
mten at findlay 10.10.16
2
Roberts Wesleyan RWCM (5-12, 0-3 ECC)
7
Winner Daemen DAEM (6-14, 1-2 ECC)
Roberts Wesleyan RWCM
(5-12, 0-3 ECC)
2
Final
7
Daemen DAEM
(6-14, 1-2 ECC)
Winner

Match Recap: Men's Tennis | | By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

Wildcats Snap Slide With First-Ever Thruway Rivalry Win

WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. - It took six tries but the Daemen College men's tennis team finally broke through in the Thruway Rivalry, defeating their closest rivals from Roberts Wesleyan College 7-2 in an East Coast Conference dual match at Miller Tennis Center today. Roberts Wesleyan had won the previous five meetings between the two teams dating back to Daemen's inaugural season (2012-13). 

The win not only put Daemen on the board in the series, but it snapped a six-match losing streak and a 13-match conference skid that dated back to the 2014-15 season. Daemen's last ECC win before today was an 8-1 rout of Dowling College on April 17, 2015. Playing at home for for the first time since Feb. 24, the Wildcats moved to 4-3 in home dual matches this season. Overall, the victory pushed Daemen to 6-14 this season, one win shy of the team record. At 1-2 now in ECC play, the win also kept Daemen's conference tournament hopes alive.

RWC, which was picked one spot ahead of Daemen at fifth in the ECC preseason poll, dropped to 5-12 overall and 0-3 in league play with the loss.

Freshman Pablo Martinez Hernandez (Huatulco, Mexico) and senior Mark Veitengruber (Rockford, Mich.) teamed up for an easy 8-2 win in the third doubles position to put Daemen on the board, ousting RWC's Jose Carrillo (Canary Islands, Spain) and Harmeet Luthra (Noida, India). For Veitengruber, it was the 32nd doubles win of his career, one shy of John LeMar's team record.

But, the Redhawks evened up the match with an 8-6 win by Hugo Ball-Greene (Paris, France) and Guido Janssen (Zeewolde, Netherlands) in the first doubles position over DC's top pair of Fabian Wilde (Crimmitschau, Germany) and Jose Williamson III (Minneapolis, Minn.).

The match turned in Daemen's favor when juniors Ricardo Ruiz Martinez (Valencia, Spain) and David Gonzalez Villegas (Pereira, Colombia) gutted out a 9-8 win in the second doubles position over RWC's Dennis Barlotta (Holmdel, N.J.) and Dustin Eshleman (Moravia, N.Y.). The win gave Daemen a 2-1 lead heading into singles play, and it was the 11th doubles win of the season for both Ruiz Martinez and Gonzalez Villegas, one shy of the team record for a single season currently held by the latter. It was also Gonzalez Villegas' 30th career doubles win, becoming just the fourth player in team history to reach the milestone.

Ruiz Martinez, who just this past weekend became Daemen's record holder for singles wins in a season, kept the momentum going as he picked up a 6-2, 6-1 win in the second position over Janssen. In so doing, Ruiz Martinez becomes the first Daemen player with 15 singles wins in a season (15-7 record), and he ran his career singles mark to 25-14.

Wilde made it a 4-1 Daemen lead with his 6-2, 6-1 win in the fourth position over Luthra, his 11th singles win of the season to establish a new personal best.

The clincher came in the top spot in the lineup as Gonzalez Villegas skated past Ball-Greene in straight sets (6-3, 6-1). The Daemen junior snapped a personal six-match slide in singles play with the win, his fifth of the season.

After the Wildcats had sewed up the dual-match victory, Veitengruber and freshman Tim Georg (Aschaffenburg, Germany) added singles victories of their own. Veitengruber took out Andrew Freeman (North Chili, N.Y.) 6-4, 6-4 in the fifth singles spot. Georg won the lone match that went to three sets, defeating Barlotta 3-6, 7-6, 10-6. 

Only Carillo could break through in singles play for the Redhawks as he bested Williamson III 7-5, 7-6 in the sixth position.

Daemen, which likely needs at least a split, if not a sweep, of their two remaining ECC contests to qualify for the league's postseason tournament, returns to action this Saturday, April 7 against N.Y. Institute of Technology.

 
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