David Gonzalez Villegas now has 34 doubles wins in his career, surpassing the previous program record of 33 set by John LeMar and Mark Veitengruber

Men's Tennis 9/17/2018 9:57:00 AM By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

Men's Tennis Impresses At ITA Regional Tournament

Gonzalez Villegas Becomes Program's All-Time Leader In Doubles Wins

FLUSHING, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's tennis team made their 2018-19 season debut over the weekend at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) East Region Championships held at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The Wildcats arguably put forth their best performance at the prestigious tournament which brings together teams from across the NCAA Division II East Region, while making their fifth appearance at the event since the inception of the program in 2012.

Seniors Ricardo Ruiz Martinez (Valencia, Spain) and David Gonzalez Villegas (Pereira, Colombia) teamed up to advance into the quarterfinals of the doubles draw. The duo opened the tournament with an 8-3 win over Steven Woodfield and Joe Alvord of Post University. Next came an 8-5 victory over Brandon Grill and Alec Mackay Rodriguez of Merrimack College. In the pre-quarterfinals, the Daemen pair ousted Yuval Barak and Preston Gordon from Franklin Pierce University with an 8-4 win. Their run came to an end with an 8-5 loss o Boyd Blackburn and Guido Janssen from Roberts Wesleyan College.

The three doubles victories gives Gonzalez Villegas 34 for his career, becoming the program's all-time record holder. He surpassed the previous high total of 33 set by both John LeMar (2013-17) and Mark Veitengruber (2014-18).

The Wildcats also got wins in the doubles draw from Jose Williamson III (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Fabian Wilde (Crimmitschau, Germany), as well as from Patrick O'Brien (Pittsford, N.Y.) and James Schaab-Rozbicki (Amherst, N.Y.). Williamson III and Wilde advanced to the pre-quarterfinals with a pair of wins, defeating Roberts Wesleyan's Matthew Forrest and Timothy Nacca (8-5) in the opening round, followed by an 8-5 defeat of Merrimack's Marshall Wood and Hassan Elalami. The duo was eliminated by Merrimack's Tyler Clontz and Frank Vega, 8-3. O'Brien and Schaab-Rozbicki defeated Michael Rosen and Rit Flandreau of Saint Anselm College 8-7 in the opening round, but were bounced out with an 8-1 loss to Willem Van Biezen and Bas Van Biezen of Southern New Hampshire University.

In singles play, Ruiz Martinez, Wilde, Schaab-Rozbicki and O'Brien all picked up victories; both Ruiz Martinez and Wilde advanced into the main singles draw before bowing out. Ruiz Martinez, who set the program's seasonal record for singles victories last year, received a bye into the second round of the qualifying draw and then breezed past Brandon Sze of Assumption College, 8-1. Wilde downed Gerardo Wibmer of Le Moyne College (8-4) and RWC's Blackburn (8-4) to advance. Schaab-Rozbicki earned an 8-1 win over Post's Matt Spina, but then fell 8-1 to Merrimack's Alex Fedorov. O'Brien picked up his first career singles win, an 8-5 decision over Merrmack's Elalami, but couldn't get past FPU's Gordon (8-5) into the main draw.

In the main draw, Ruiz Martinez suffered a 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (9) loss to Sergio Fernandez from East Coast Conference foe N.Y. Institute of Technology. Wilde also bowed to an ECC competitor, falling 6-2, 6-1 to Queens College's Jose Zurro.

All together, the Wildcats posted a combined 11-10 record in tournament matches, going 6-3 in doubles play and 5-7 in singles play.

The Wildcats play their first dual match of the 2018-19 season on September 30 when they visit Merrimack.

For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

John LeMar: 5' 10"; Senior

Mark Veitengruber: 6' 0"; Senior

David Gonzalez Villegas: 5' 6"; Senior

Ricardo Ruiz Martinez: 5' 8"; Senior

Patrick O'Brien: 5' 9"; Sophomore

James Schaab-Rozbicki: 5' 11"; Senior

Fabian Wilde: 5' 8"; Senior

Jose Williamson III: 6' 4"; Junior

Players Mentioned

John LeMar
: 5' 10"; Senior

Mark Veitengruber
: 6' 0"; Senior

David Gonzalez Villegas
: 5' 6"; Senior

Ricardo Ruiz Martinez
: 5' 8"; Senior

Patrick O'Brien
: 5' 9"; Sophomore

James Schaab-Rozbicki
: 5' 11"; Senior

Fabian Wilde
: 5' 8"; Senior

Jose Williamson III
: 6' 4"; Junior