Box Score

PUERTO RICO – Freshman Jake Zapatka (Wethersfield, Conn.) won the No. 5 singles match as the Nichols College men's tennis team improved to 2-1 on their spring break trip with an 8-1 win over the University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras Tuesday morning.

The Bison got things started by sweeping through the doubles matches. Graduate student Justin DeLuca (Mashpee, Mass.) and junior Brandon Roode (Griswold, Conn.) won the No. 1 doubles match 8-2 against Enrique Miyami and Gabriel Martinez.

The No. 2 and No. 3 doubles matches were much closer. Sophomore Carlos De La Cruz (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) and freshman Joan Castillo (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) went back in forth in the No. 2 match with Carlos Espada and Carlos Pirallo before finally taking the match 8-6. In the No. 3 match, sophomore Josh Halpern (Secaucus, N.J.) and senior Dan Roman (Tolland, Conn.) defeated Gabriel Ramirez and Javier Donnato 9-7.

Nichols won the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, and No. 5 singles matches in straight sets. DeLuca defeated Miyami 6-2, 6-2 at No. 1 singles, while Roode had no trouble with Martinez, winning 6-0, 6-0. Castillo needed a tiebreaker in the second set before taking the No. 3 singles match against Maniel Ruiz 6-2, 7-6 (7-4). Zapatka won over Donnato at No. 5 singles 6-2, 6-1.

De La Cruz played a tough match with Ramirez before coming out on top 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). Junior Cam Lewis (Bolton, Mass.) dropped the only match of the day for the Bison at No. 6 singles. Derek Perez defeated Lewis 6-1, 2-6, 1-0 (10-7).

The Bison will conclude their tour of Puerto Rico Thursday when they take on the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez at 5:00 p.m.