FLUSHING, N.Y. -- The No. 4 seed Daemen University men's tennis season ended on Friday morning with a 0-4 loss to the top-seeded Queens College Knights in the East Coast Conference Championship semifinal match at the Queens Tennis Bubble. The Wildcats, who are led by ECC Men's Tennis Coach of the Year Richard Greco, made their fourth straight appearance in the conference tournament and ended the 2024 season with a 5-15 overall record. Queens advances to the ECC Championship match for the 10th straight season where they will face the winner of the second semifinal match between No. 2 seed St. Thomas Aquinas College and No. 3 seed University of the District of Columbia on Saturday.
The match was played under Division I/II scoring rules, and Queens picked up the first point of the match after winning No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. The Queens third doubles pair of freshman Tim Andersson and senior Francisco Gonzalez defeated Daemen's No. 3 doubles pairing of
Lasse Mergens (Bochum, Germany) and
Rohan Chitanand (Den Haag, Netherlands), 6-0, to open the match. Queens' top team of seniors Roni Rikkonen, who was named the ECC Player of the Year prior on Thursday, and Omar El Shehawey secured the doubles point with a 6-0 win over Wildcat sophomore
Alex Lumanog (Albuquerque, N.M.) and
Juan Alvarez (Puebla, Mexico). With the doubles point decided, the No. 2 doubles match was left unfinished.
The Knights garnered their second point of the match with a win at No. 4 singles as All-ECC sophomore Lucas Foix Sotos topped Chitanand (6-1, 6-0). Queens opened up a 3-0 lead with after Andersson defeated Daemen freshman
Lucas Garcia (Bogota, Columbia) at No. 4 (6-0, 6-1), and the Knights secured the match after All-ECC junior Cameron Henricy outlasted Alvarez, 6-0, 6-1, at No. 2 singles. With the dual match fully decided, the No. 1, No. 5 and No. 6 singles matches were left unfinished.
Today's ECC semifinals marked the final collegiate match for Daemen graduate student
Zachary Laplante, who finished the season with a team-high seven singles victories and 10 combined singles and doubles wins on the year.
DOUBLES RESULTS
#1 -- Roni Rikkonen & Omar El Shehawey (QC) def.
Alex Lumanog &
Juan Alvarez (DAE), 6-0
#2 --
Lucas Garcia &
Zachary Laplante (DAE) vs. Lucas Foix Sotos & Cameron Henricy (QC), unfinished
#3 -- Tim Andersson & Francisco Gonzalez (QC) def.
Lasse Mergens &
Rohan Chitanand (DAE), 6-0
Order of Finish: 3,1
SINGLES RESULTS
#1 -- Lumanog vs. Rikkonen, unfinished
#2 -- Henricy def. Alvarez, 6-0, 6-1
#3 -- Andersson def.
Lucas Garcia, 6-0, 6-1
#4 -- Foix Sotos def. Chitanand, 6-1, 6-0
#5 -- Mergens vs. El Shehawey, unfinished
#6 --
Jayven Williamson vs. Noah Gauthier, unfinished
Order of Finish: 4,3,2
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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