Box Score

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Graduate student captain David Drucker (Bellmore, N.Y.) delivered the decisive fifth point as the Nichols College men's tennis team blanked Colby-Sawyer, 5-0, in the 2013 NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championship First round hosted by Williams College on Thursday morning. The squad's second NCAA tournament victory also sets the program record for single-season wins as the Bison improve to 19-5 on the year. Nichols will face nationally-ranked host Williams tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.
 
Drucker, already the program's all-time singles and doubles record holder, extended his lead with his 64th singles victory to clinch the match with a 6-1, 6-0 decision. Earlier in the contest, Drucker teamed with senior Justin DeLuca (Mashpee, Mass.) to post an 8-1 win for his 57th doubles triumph.
 
Sophomore Brandon Roode (Griswold, Conn.) and first-year Eduardo Irizarry (Lajas, Puerto Rico) did not surrender a game and posted the first Bison point in their second-straight match with an 8-0 decision over sophomore Nathan Taschereau (Goffstown, N.H.) and senior Reeve Fidler (San Diego, Calif.). The rookie duo of Carlos De La Cruz (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) and Josh Halpern (Secaucus, N.J.) then finished off sophomore Clay Allen (Massena, N.Y.) and senior Paul Holland (England), 8-1, at the third flight. Drucker and DeLuca closed out the doubles session with an 8-1 victory of their own as Nichols staked a 3-0 lead.
 
Irizarry raced out to a 6-0, 6-0 win at the third flight to set the stage for Drucker to send the Bison into the second round for the team's second appearance in as many years.
 
“It was another great win for us,” remarked head coach Paul Brower. “The guys played very, very well today. It was a great start in doubles. We came out hot and really took it to them. In singles we closed fast. The level of play was high. Hopefully we can carry it into tomorrow against one of the toughest teams in the nation. We're looking forward to the challenge and I think our guys are going to have a strong showing against some of the best out there.”
 
Nichols was ahead at the four remaining singles flights when the match was concluded. Roode held a 6-1, 4-1 lead at the second flight while Halpern was up 6-3, 2-1. DeLuca took his first set 6-1 and De La Cruz posted a 6-2 initial set as both were up 1-0 in the second set.
 
Colby-Sawyer ends its season 14-8.