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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
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ruiz martinez mten @ houghton
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Daemen DAEM (5-12 (1-2 ECC))
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Winner Roberts Wesleyan RWCM (11-6 (2-1 ECC))
Daemen DAEM
(5-12 (1-2 ECC))
3
Final
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Roberts Wesleyan RWCM
(11-6 (2-1 ECC))
Winner

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

Wildcats Fall In Marathon Battle With Thruway Rivals

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - A three-set victory by Adam Freeman in the No. 6 singles position served as the deciding point as Roberts Wesleyan College outlasted Daemen College 4-3 in a key East Coast Conference men's tennis dual match that lasted more than five hours today at the Midtown Athletic Club. 

Daemen, which entered as winners in four of their last five matches, drops to 5-12 overall and 1-2 in ECC play. The Wildcats sit in fifth place in the ECC standings with two conference matches left on the docket. 

On the flip side, RWC won its fifth consecutive match and placed itself square in the conference tournament picture. The Redhawks are 11-6 overall and 2-1 in conference play, tied for second place with idle Saint Thomas Aquinas College (7-5, 2-1 ECC). The top four teams in the final ECC standings will advance to the conference tournament later this month.

The match opened with the host Redhawks winning two of the three doubles contests, securing the all-important doubles point. 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.

Daemen got on the doubles board first with seniors Ricardo Ruiz Martinez (Valencia, Spain) and David Gonzalez Villegas (Pereira, Colombia) teaming up on a 6-1 win in the No. 2 position over Matthew Forrest and Harmeet Luthra. The Daemen duo has now won four straight matches, improving to 10-6 as a pair this season. Gonzalez Villegas is the first player in team history to reach 10 doubles wins in three seasons; Ruiz Martinez is just the third player to do so twice. It also marked Ruiz Martinez's 30th career doubles win, making him just the fifth player in team history to reach that total. 

The Redhawks evened up doubles play with a 6-2 win in the No. 3 position by Freeman and Dennis Barlotta. They would go on to win the doubles point when Guido Janssen and Boyd Blackburn rallied for a 7-5 win in the No. 1 position. The RWC duo trailed Daemen's top pair - Jose Williamson III (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Fabian Wilde (Crimmitschau, Germany) - by a 5-4 score, but took three straight games to win the match. 

Daemen rebounded with three wins in the first four singles matches to go final, taking a 3-2 lead in the match. Freshman Patrick O'Brien (Pittsford, N.Y.) continued his strong rookie campaign with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Forrest in the No. 4 position. It marked O'Brien's seventh singles win of the season, and he's now 5-1 since returning to the lineup in late March; he had missed the first nine matches of the spring season with an injury. 

Wilde and Ruiz Martinez also scored singles victories for Daemen, those coming in the No. 3 and 1 spots respectively. Wilde was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Timothy Nacca. Ruiz Martinez, the reigning ECC Player of the Week, outlasted Blackburd in three sets (6-1, 5-7, 6-2) four his fourth consecutive singles win. RWC's lone singles win at the outset came from Janssen in the No. 2 position (6-1, 7-5). 

Barlotta evened up the match with his 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 win in the No. 5 position over Williamson III, and Freeman delivered a 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 win over Daemen senior Justin Milner (Ithaca, N.Y.) to seal the dual-match victory. 

"Our guys played resilient and with heart," said head coach Kerry McDermott. "I love the battle we showed today, and hope we continue to work hard."

With the Thruway Rivalry match in the rearview mirror, Daemen will set its sights on their final ECC matches of the regular season this weekend. They are set to host preseason league favorite and perennial powerhouse Queens College on Friday (Apr. 12), followed by Saint Thomas Aquinas coming in on Saturday (Apr. 13). Both matches are slated for 7:30 p.m. starts at Miller Tennis Center in Williamsville. 

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