Men's Tennis Meets League-Leading Queens In Regular Season Finale

4/22/2022 10:40:00 AM

AMHERST, N.Y. – The Daemen University men's tennis team travels to New York City to face the East Coast Conference-leading Queens Knights in a 10:30 a.m. match Saturday. It marks the final regular season match of the 2021-22 season.

The Wildcats (3-15, 0-5 ECC) are coming off a pair of 6-3 loss to the Allegheny Gators earlier this week. Junior Luis de Vuyst (Atwerp, Belgium) and sophomore Sam Greco (Amherst, N.Y.) earned their fifth win as a doubles pair, and juniors Zachary Laplante (Ottawa, Ont.) and Phillip Vance (Orchard Park, N.Y.) scored singles wins to account for Daemen's scoring in the loss.

Laplante and Vance lead Daemen with six doubles wins each this season - all of which have come while paired together. Laplante has made an immediate impact in his first season with the program after transferring from Salem University (W.Va.). He leads the team with 12 combined singles and doubles victories. Fellow newcomer de Vuyst has totaled 11, as has Vance who surpassed the 20-win mark for his career earlier this season.

Queens returns nine players from their 2020-21 team that went unbeaten (6-0) through ECC play en route to the program's fourth straight conference title. Head coach Somadi Druker has presided over the program since 2015 and has been the ECC Coach of the Year five times. The Knights were picked first in the ECC preseason coaches' poll released in January and have posted a 14-7 overall record with wins over Division I foes Fairleigh Dickinson (5-2) and Rider (7-0). The Knights are ranked 34th in the ITA Division II national poll and have already clinched the top seed in next week's ECC Championship with wins in their first five conference matches of the season.

MEN'S PROJECTED LINEUP
#1 Doubles: Luis de Vuyst / Sam Greco
#2 Doubles: Phillip Vance / Zachary Laplante
#3 Doubles: Ross Belen / Marcos Lerma Escobar

#1 Singles: Luis de Vuyst
#2 Singles: Zachary Laplante
#3 Singles: Phillip Vance
#4 Singles: Sam Greco
#5 Singles: Ross Belen
#6 Singles: Marcos Lerma Escobar

Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 18 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.

Follow the Daemen University tennis program on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @DaemenTennis.

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