Men's Tennis To Play Three Matches This Week

3/14/2023 2:22:00 PM

By: CONTACT: Mary Margaret Johnson, Assistant Athletics Communications Director | mmjohnso@daemen.edu

Match #11
Daemen Wildcats (2-8, 0-0 ECC) vs. Houghton Highlanders (3-3, 0-0 Empire 8)
Date: Wednesday, March 15
Time: 4 PM
Location: Houghton, N.Y.

Match #12
Daemen Wildcats (2-8, 0-0 ECC) vs. Bloomsburg Huskies (0-3, 0-0 PSAC)
Date: Friday, March 17
Time: 8 PM
Location: Williamsville, N.Y. | Miller Tennis Center

Match #13
Daemen Wildcats (2-8, 0-0 ECC) vs. Le Moyne Dolphins (5-1, 0-0 NE10)
Date: Sunday, March 19
Time: 6 PM
Location: Syracuse, N.Y. | Elevate Fitness

BACK ON THE COURT
The Daemen men's tennis team will play three non-league matches this week, starting first with a 4 PM road match at Houghton before returning home for the first time since Feb. 3 for a Friday night match against Bloomsburg on Friday at 8 PM. The Wildcats will travel to Le Moyne on Sunday at 6 PM in a makeup match from last week that was postponed due to weather. This week's matches mark the final stretch of non-league play as the Wildcats open up East Coast Conference play next Saturday against the University of District of Columbia.

2023 OUTLOOK
Head coach Richard Greco, Jr. returns for his second season. He returns five players from last season and welcomes four freshmen to the team. Seniors Zachary Laplante (Ottawa, Ont.), Luis de Vuyst (Antwerp, Belgium) and Phillip Vance (Orchard Park, N.Y.) top the list of returning players. Laplante and de Vuyst both made an immediate impact on the team last year in their first season with the program. Laplante, who transferred to Daemen from Salem University, posted a team-high six singles wins last year and also lead the team in combined singles and doubles wins with 12. de Vuyst posted five singles wins last year, four of which came at No. 1 singles. Vance returns for his fourth season after posting a career best five singles wins last year. Freshmen Alex Lumanog (Albuquerque, N.M.) and Rohan Chitanand (Den Haag, Netherlands) both saw considerable playing time during Daemen's fall season. Lumanog played No. 1 singles in all three dual matches, while Chitanand played in two of the three dual matches and registered his first career win during a 4-3 loss to Allegheny. Fellow newcomer Adam Pasierb (Lancaster, N.Y.) is also expected to see action this spring.

POLL POSITION
Daemen is tied for third in the 2022-23 East Coast Conference Men's Tennis Preseason Coaches' Poll. After advancing to the second round of the NCAA men's tennis tournament in 2022, Queens picked up all four first-place votes and is selected first in the preseason poll with 16 points. Reigning ECC champion St. Thomas Aquinas, who put together a solid postseason after winning their first ever conference title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament, earned 12 points and was picked second in the poll. Daemen and District of Columbia each earned six points and tied for third.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats open up ECC play with a home match against UDC on Saturday (March 25) at 6:30 PM at the Miller Tennis Center.

SCOUTING THE HOUGHTON HIGHLANDERS
Houghton is an NCAA Division III affiliate and a member of the Empire 8 Conference. The Highlanders are coming off a 12-11 season in which they won the Empire 8 regular season and but the season ended in a 3-5 loss to #2 seed Nazareth in the conference tournament. 2021-22 Empire 8 Coach of the Year Zach Schilvock returns seven players from last year's successful team, including 2021-22 Empire 8 Player of the Year Micah Schilke and Empire 8 Rookie of the Year Jaimie Staerkle. The Highlanders are 3-3 on the year have a and a 3-2 record in the spring. Houghton comes into Wednesday's match on a win streak after posting a 8-1 win over SUNY Oswego last Wednesday.

SERIES RECORD VS. HOUGHTON
All-Time Record: 8-0 Daemen
Last Meeting: Daemen 7 Houghton 2 | March 9, 2022

SCOUTING THE BLOOMSBURG HUSKIES
Bloomsburg is an NCAA Division II affiliate and a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). The Huskies return eight players from their 2021-22 team that posted a 6-11 overall record and went 3-2 in PSAC play. Bloomsburg enters Friday night's action winless after going 0-3 on the year so far. The Huskies have gone 1-2 in doubles play so far this season, with Sergio Dilan and Lu Casamitjana picking up a No. 3 doubles win. Seniors Oliver Wisemann and Scott Redmond are the top singles returners this season after each earned eight victories last season.

SERIES RECORD VS. BLOOMSBURG
All-Time Record: 3-0 Bloomsburg
Last Meeting: Bloomsburg 7 Daemen 0 | March 25, 2022

SCOUTING THE LE MOYNE DOLPHINS
Le Moyne is a NCAA Division II affiliate and a member of the Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10). Le Moyne returns eight players from last year's team that went 22-2 overall and 7-0 in NE-10 play. The Dolphins claimed the NE-10 Tournament title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II Tournament. Le Moyne was picked to finish first in the preseason NE-10 coaches poll. The Dolphins improved to 5-1 on the year following a 4-2 win at Division I Morgan State last weekend. Le Moyne's lone loss this year came against Division I University at Buffalo. Graduate students Manuel Righi and Tom Jarry, who both earned all-conference honors last year, top the list of returning players. Righi went 18-1 last year, while Jarry went 18-7.

SERIES RECORD VS. LE MOYNE
All-Time Record: LC, 7-0
Last Meeting: Le Moyne 7, Daemen 0 | Sept. 10, 2022

Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 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.

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