Men's Tennis Hosts Millersville In 2019-20 Season Opener

9/6/2019 9:30:00 AM

MATCH INFORMATION
Match #1
Daemen Wildcats (0-0, 0-0 ECC) vs. Millersville Marauders (0-0, 0-0 PSAC)
Saturday, Sept. 7 | 5:30 p.m.
Williamsville, N.Y. | Miller Tennis Center

Here's three things to know about the season-opening match for the Daemen men's tennis team...

1. A mixture of veterans and newcomers make up the Wildcats' 2019-20 roster. Seniors James Schaab-Rozbicki and Fabian Wilde return, as does junior Jose Williamson III and sophomore Patrick O'Brien. Each of the four has played important roles with the team in the past. Schaab-Rozbicki has worked his way into the team's lineup after beginning his career as a walk-on. He appeared in a career-high 24 matches last season. Wilde enters his final collegiate season with a chance to climb Daemen's career wins list. He needs just eight wins (combined singles/doubles) to surpass former teammate Ricardo Ruiz Martinez for second in team history, and the No.1 spot occupied by Mark Veitengruber (82 wins) is also within reach. Williamson III has won 24 doubles matches in his career, becoming just the fourth player in team history to record 10 or more in back-to-back seasons. O'Brien set the single season record for singles winning percentage (.714) by going 10-4 en route to earning second-team All-ECC honors. Freshmen Phillip Vance and Oussama El Gallaf will make their collegiate debuts.

2. Saturday's match kicks off the non-championship segment of Daemen's 2019-20 season. The Wildcats will play four total dual matches this fall, and will also participate in the prestigious Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) East Region Championship which is slated for Sept. 13-16 at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in the New York City borough of Queens. Additional dual match opponents include Niagara (Sept. 29), Merrimack (Oct. 5) and Southern New Hampshire (Oct. 6). The bulk of Daemen's 2019-20 season will be played in the championship segment next spring.

3. Millersville posted an 8-14 record last season, winning more matches than they had in the previous five seasons combined. The team's success included a 3-2 record in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference matches. They'll return seven players from last year's roster, including junior Carlos Martinez-Lucas who earned PSAC Athlete of the Year honors. The native of Albacete, Spain went 15-6 in singles play and 12-9 in doubles matches last season. Saturday's match also marks Millersville's 2019-20 season opener. It'll mark the fifth straight season that the Wildcats and Marauders have met. Daemen won the first three meetings by a combined score of 26-1, but Millersville got on the board with a 7-0 win in last season's meeting.

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