Men's Tennis Heads To Houghton Friday

3/25/2021 7:30:00 PM

MATCH #1
DAEMEN WILDCATS (0-0, 0-0 ECC) vs. HOUGHTON HIGHLANDERS (0-2, 0-0 E8)
FRIDAY, MARCH 26
KERR-PEGULA FIELD HOUSE (HOUGHTON, N.Y.) - 4:30 P.M.
NO SPECTATORS PERMITTED DUE TO COVID-19

Here's three things to know about upcoming matches for the Daemen men's tennis team...

1. The Daemen men's tennis team makes its long-awaited debut for the 2020-21 season Friday when they make a short trek into the southern tier to face Houghton. It marks Daemen's first competition since a 7-0 loss to Palm Beach Atlantic on March 11, 2020, a span lasting 380 days. The Wildcats had the final eight matches of their 2019-20 season wiped out by the pandemic, finishing the campaign with a 3-8 record. Friday's match is the first of 10 on the abbreviated spring slate, including six East Coast Conference contests. Two scheduled matches against St. Thomas Aquinas this weekend have been postponed due to a positive COVID-19 test within the Spartans' Tier 1 personnel.

2. The Wildcats' roster includes four returning players and three newcomers. Senior Jose Williamson III and junior Patrick O'Brien headline the returning players. Williamson III enters his senior season with 43 combined singles and doubles wins in his career, eighth-best in the program's nine-year history. O'Brien earned All-ECC second team honors as a freshman when he posted a 10-4 record in singles play, setting a program record for singles winning percentage (.714). The roster has been bolstered with the addition of freshman Sam Greco and sophomore Ben Davis. Davis appeared in the No. 1 singles and doubles positions while competing for Roberts Wesleyan last season. Friday's match also marks the debut for Daemen head coach Jesse Plote who was named to the position late last summer replacing the departed Kerry McDermott. Plote brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the position with prior head coaching experience at Division II Nebraska-Kearney and Division I Bradley. At Nebraska-Kearney, Plote led the team to three consecutive NCAA tournament berths and was a two-time Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. He moved on to Bradley where his teams averaged 11.6 wins over his five seasons, including a 15-win season in 2011-12, the program's highest win total since the late 1980's.

3. Houghton is a member of NCAA Division III and the Empire 8 Conference. The Highlanders return eight players from their 2019-20 team that went 1-7 before having their final 11 matches cancelled due to the pandemic. Houghton has dropped a pair of matches so far this season, falling 7-2 to RIT and 9-0 to Ithaca. Among the team's returners are a trio of seniors in Jake Fisler, Ben McKay and Ethan Yung. Fisler mae eight appearances in the No. 1 singles position last season. He teamed with Yung to provide a win at No. 1 doubles vs. RIT, while Yung won his No. 2 singles match as well.

Print Friendly Version