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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
wilde mten @ houghton
6
Winner Daemen DAEM (5-11, 1-1 ECC)
1
Dist. Columbia UDC (0-9-1, 0-4 ECC)
Winner
Daemen DAEM
(5-11, 1-1 ECC)
6
Final
1
Dist. Columbia UDC
(0-9-1, 0-4 ECC)

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

Men's Tennis Continues To Roll, Beats UDC For First Time

Wildcats Now Winners in Four of Last Five Matches, Even Conference Record at 1-1

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Less than 24 hours removed from the second win against an NCAA Division I opponent in program history, the Daemen College men's tennis team continued its hot streak, scoring a 6-1 victory over the University of the District of Columbia in an East Coast Conference dual match.

The win pushed Daemen's overall record to 5-11, while evening up their conference record at 1-1. The Wildcats, who defeated Division I Coppin State by a 7-0 final last night, have now won four of their last five matches. Today's win also marked Daemen's first against a UDC, snapping a five-match slide in the all-time series. UDC, which has made nine consecutive ECC Championship berths, dropped to 0-9-1 overall and 0-4 in conference play. 

Daemen took a 1-0 lead in the match following doubles play. In a new scoring format for NCAA Division II matches this season, the outcome of doubles matches will award a single point to the team winning at least two of the three matchups, as opposed to awarding points for each individual doubles victory. 

Fabian Wilde (Crimmitschau, Germany) and Jose Williamson III (Minneapolis, Minn.) opened things up with a 6-2 win over Drew Stewart and Kostiantyn Kalchev in the No. 1 doubles position. Daemen's top pair improved to 9-8 together this season.

Seniors Ricardo Ruiz Martinez (Valencia, Spain) and David Gonzalez Villegas (Pereira, Colombia) are now 9-6 as a pair this season after they bested Maksim Bahdanovich and Jake Bedforth, also by a 6-2 final, in the No. 2 doubles position. 

UDC did not submit a No. 3 doubles team, giving Daemen a clean sweep of doubles action.

Daemen went on to secure the dual-match victory with five points in a singles play, including a defaulted point in the No. 6 position. Ruiz Martinez, Wilde, Williamson III and freshman Patrick O'Brien (Pittsford, N.Y.) accounted for Daemen's wins in singles action.

Ruiz Martinez was a 6-4, 6-0 winner over Kalchev in the No. 1 singles position, earning his sixth singles win of the season, and the 33rd of his career which moves him into sole possession of second place on Daemen's all-time singles wins list. The Daemen senior had entered the match tied with John LeMar. Ruiz Martinez now owns 62 combined singles/doubles wins, tied with Gonzalez Villegas and former Wildcat Gregory Lowe for second in team history.

Wilde's sixth singles win of the season was a 6-1, 6-3 dispatching of Stewart in the No. 3 slot. It marked the 30th singles win of Wilde's career, making him just the fourth player in team history with at least that many. With 58 combined singles/doubles wins, Wilde is within striking distance of becoming just the sixth player in team history to reach the 60-win plateau.

O'Brien cruised past Bedforth without dropping a game (6-0, 6-0) in the No. 4 position. After missing the first nine matches of the spring season, O'Brien has returned with a vengeance, posting a 4-1 record in singles play. The Daemen freshman is 6-3 in singles play this season.

Williamson III closed out the Daemen scoring with a 6-1, 6-0 defeat of Wilson Cano in the No. 5 position. He's now won three straight singles matches for the first time in his career.

UDC's lone point in the match came from Bahdanovich who was a 6-1, 6-1 winner in the No. 2 position. 

Daemen returns to ECC play Tuesday when they visit rival Roberts Wesleyan College (9-7, 1-1 ECC) for a match that will carry large postseason implications. Daemen defeated the Redhawks for the first time in team history when they met last season. 

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