Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Nichols College men's tennis team, recently tabbed the 18th-ranked team in the region, blanked Western New England, 9-0, to open its 2013 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) slate. With the victory, the Bison (1-0 CCC) extended their winning streak to five matches for an overall record of 9-3 while the Golden Bears (0-1 CCC) fall to 1-6.
 
Sophomore Brandon Roode (Griswold, Conn.) and first-year Eduardo Irizarry (Lajas, Puerto Rico) were tested at the top doubles flight but emerged with the 8-5 victory. Senior Justin DeLuca (Mashpee, Mass.) and graduate student David Drucker (Bellmore, N.Y.) cruised to an 8-1 win at the second flight and the rookie paring of Josh Halpern (Secaucus, N.J.) and Carlos De La Cruz (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) did not allow a point as they rolled to an 8-0 triumph at the third flight.
 
DeLuca, Halpern and Irizarry dispatched their singles opponents 6-0, 6-0 while Drucker claimed the fourth flight, 6-0, 6-2 and De La Cruz posted a 6-0, 6-1 at the fifth flight. Regionally-ranked No. 15 Brandon Roode downed his foe 6-2, 6-1 at the top flight as the Bison won their sixth consecutive CCC opener.

"Today was a solid start to our CCC schedule," remarked head coach Paul Brower. "Overall we played well, but we had to shake of a sluggish start combined with some excellent play by WNE's #1 pair to take the first doubles flight. Fortunately we came out firing in singles and put the match away quickly. Eduardo, Justin, and Josh were able to blank their opponents, while Carlos, David, and Brandon had convincing wins. Hopefully we build on this win as we move forward into our CCC schedule."

Nichols travels to nationally-ranked #19 Amherst on Saturday in a rematch of last spring's NCAA Men's Tennis Championship Second Round contest. First serve is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. Western New England ventures to Roger Williams for a CCC tilt on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.