AMHERST, N.Y. -- The Daemen University men's tennis team remains in Western New York for the second consecutive week as they play host to St. Lawrence University in a non-league match on Saturday at 1:30 PM at Miller Tennis Center. The Wildcats are coming off their first win of the spring competition season after topping West Liberty 5-2 last weekend and come into Saturday's match with a 3-6 overall record. The Saints, an NCAA Division III opponent, have a 1-1 record this spring.
The Wildcats earned their first win of 2026 in a 5-2 decision over West Liberty in their spring home opener. Daemen won the first point of the match after winning two of the three doubles pairings. Senior
Alex Lumanog (Albuquerque, N.M.) and junior
Lasse Mergens (Bochum, Germany) swept 6-0 at top doubles, and senior
Rohan Chitanand (Den Haag, Netherlands) and junior
Lucas Garcia (Bogota, Colombia) finished it off for the Wildcats with a 6-0 win at No. 2 doubles. Daemen closed out the match by taking the top four singles pairs tonight. Lumanog cruised to a 6-0, 6-3 victory at No. 1 singles while Chitanand picked up a 6-4, 6-1 at No. 2 singles. Mergens and freshman
Mitch Pollack (Winnipeg, Man.) both battled to victory in three-set matches, with the junior taking third singles (6-2,1-6, 6-3) and Pollack winning (6-3, 6-7, 13-11) at No. 4 singles. The Hilltoppers won No. 5 and No. 6 singles.
With an upperclassmen-heavy team that features four players with at least 20 combined singles/doubles wins in
Rohan Chitanand (Den Haag, Netherlands),
Alex Lumanog (Albuquerque, N.M.),
Lasse Mergens (Bochum, Germany) and
Lucas Garcia (Bogota, Colombia), Daemen's newcomers have seen the most success in the young season thus far. Sophomore
Riley Fitzgerald (Auburn, N.Y.) and freshman
Mitch Pollack (Winnipeg, Man.) each have three singles victories this season. Pollack also leads the Wildcats with four doubles wins.
Saturday marks the third consecutive season that the Wildcats and Saints square off on the court, with St. Lawrence winning all three previous meetings. The Saints posted an 8-13 record in 2024-25 and after participating in two invitationals and the ITA Northeast Regionals in the fall, St. Lawrence is 1-1 so far this season with both dual matches coming in the spring season. St. Lawrence opened the spring with a 3-4 loss against Division II Saint Michael's but bounced back with a 6-1 win over SUNY Oneonta last weekend. The Saints are a young squad comprising of 11 underclassmen on the 15-man team.
The Wildcats will hit the road to Vermont next weekend to play at Saint Michael's on Saturday, Feb. 28 at noon.
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