NEW LONDON, N.H. - The Colby-Sawyer men's tennis team earned a trip to the TCCC Semifinals with a 5-2 victory over the fifth seed Nichols. The Chargers will play the winner of the Roger Williams/Gordon match on Tuesday, April 21 at 2:00 p.m. for a chance to go to the conference championship match. Colby-Sawyer is now 9-8 on the season and Nichols finishes with a 12-8 record.
The Chargers jumped out to a 2-1 lead after the completion of the doubles matches. Sophomore Hart Callahan and senior Ben Taylor defeated sophomore Jack Baker (Cheshire, Conn.) and sophomore Tyler McLaughlin (Holis, N.H.), 8-5 at No. 1 doubles.
At the second flight, first-year Stephen Carella (Rocky Hill, Conn.) and first-year Oliver McNutt (East Lyme, Conn.) got the Bison on the board with an 8-4 victory over sophomore Robert Barnes and freshman Chris Lavoie).
The Chargers responded with an 8-4 win in the third doubles match. Junior Ben Dabush and senior Evan Campbell defeated first-year Eliot Wuhrmann (Fontainbleau, France) and first-year Dan Saucier (Newington, Conn.).
Callahan, Dabush and Campbell each won their singles matches to give the Chargers enough points to advance to the semifinals.
Baker won the lone singles match for Nichols with a 6-1, 6-0 sweep of Taylor at the third flight. The No. 5 and No. 6 singles matches were unfinished once the outcome of the match was decided.
Nichols wraps up the year with the most wins since 2001, one shy of the program-record 13 set that season. Carella and McNutt inked their names in the record books with the most doubles wins in a season, finishing with a 16-2 ledger.
Singles competition
1. Hart Callahan (CSC) def. Stephen Carella (NC) 6-0, 6-1
2. Ben Dabush (CSC) def. Tyler McLaughlin (NC) 6-1, 6-2
3. Jack Baker (NC) def. Ben Taylor (CSC) 6-1, 6-0
4. Evan Campbell (CSC) def. Eliot Wuhrmann (NC) 6-0, 6-0
5. Bryan Racz (CSC) vs. Oliver McNutt (NC) unfinished
6. Chris Lavoie (CSC) vs. Dan Saucier (NC) unfinished
Doubles competition
1. Hart Callahan/Ben Taylor (CSC) def. Jack Baker/Tyler McLaughlin (NC) 8-5
2. Stephen Carella/Oliver McNutt (NC) def. Chris Lavoie/Robert Barnes (CSC) 8-4
3. Ben Dabush/Evan Campbell (CSC) def. Eliot Wuhrmann/Dan Saucier (NC) 8-4
Match Notes
Nichols 12-8
Colby-Sawyer College 9-8
T-2:00 A-47
