Men's Tennis Renews Thruway Rivalry On Tuesday

4/8/2019 1:24:00 PM

By: By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's tennis team looks to continue its hot streak Tuesday, April 9 when they visit rival Roberts Wesleyan College for an important East Coast Conference dual match. The action gets underway at 11 a.m. at the Midtown Athletic Club.

Daemen (5-11, 1-1 ECC) has won four of its last five matches, including a pair of wins this past weekend over Division I Coppin State University (7-0) and ECC foe University of the District of Columbia (6-1). Saturday's result marked the second win against an NCAA Division I opponent in program history; both have come against CSU. Sunday's victory marked Daemen's first in the all-time series with UDC, a program that has made nine consecutive conference tournament appearances. The Wildcats' only setback of late was a 5-2 loss to perennial powerhouse N.Y. Institute of Technology in their ECC season opener on March 30.

Senior Ricardo Ruiz Martinez (Valencia, Spain), junior Fabian Wilde (Crimmitschau, Germany) and sophomore Jose Williamson III (Minneapolis, Minn.) each posted perfect 4-0 records during singles and doubles play this past weekend. Ruiz Martinez moved into sole possession of second place on Daemen's all-time singles wins list with 33 in his career to date. He also pulled into a three-way tie with teammate David Gonzalez Villegas (Pereira, Colombia) and former Wildcat Gregory Lowe for second in team history with 62 combined singles/doubles wins in his career. Gonzalez Villegas posted a 3-1 record last weekend, and his two doubles wins increased his career total to 40, becoming the first player in team history to reach that amount.

Wilde stands just two wins shy of becoming only the sixth player in team history with 60 combined singles/doubles wins. His win in singles play Sunday at UDC was the 30th of his career, making him just the fourth player in team history to reach that total.

Williamson III has won three straight singles matches, and has run his career singles/doubles win total to 32, tying him with Andew LeMar for ninth in team history.

Freshman Patrick O'Brien (Pittsford, N.Y.) has made an immediate impact since returning to the lineup in late March. O'Brien missed the first nine matches of the spring season while rehabbing an injury. He's posted a 4-1 singles record and a 2-2 doubles record since returning.

Daemen will be looking for their second straight win in the Thruway Rivalry series with Roberts Wesleyan. The Wildcats scored their first-ever win in the series last spring, defeating the Redhawks 7-2.

After going 5-15 overall and 0-5 in ECC play last season, the Redhawks have rebounded this season. So far, they've posted a 10-7 overall record with an even 1-1 mark in league play this season. The Redhawks will take a four-match winning streak into Tuesday's meeting with Daemen. They're coming off a 4-0 win this past Sunday at University of the Sciences.

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