Box Score

WORCESTER, Mass. – Junior Brandon Roode (Griswold, Conn.) set the single-season singles wins record as the Nichols College men's tennis team defeated Eastern Nazarene College 5-0 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Semifinals Tuesday afternoon at the Corash Tennis Courts.

Roode defeated junior Tyler Perron (Plympton, Mass.) in straight sets 6-1, 6-0 to earn his school-record 22nd singles win of the season, passing the record set by senior Justin DeLuca (Mashpee, Mass.) in 2010.

Nichols advances to the CCC Championship for the fourth consecutive year and looks to win the championship for the third-consecutive season.

The Bison got off to a great start after sweeping through doubles. Sophomore Josh Halpern (Secaucus, N.J.) and freshman James Smith (Monte Sereno, Calif.) got things started by taking down the No. 3 doubles team of sophomore Davis Steelman (Darlington, Md.) and freshman Yahalel Carter (Chicago, Ill.), 8-0.

DeLuca and Roode knocked off senior Nick Thompson (York, Pa.) and Perron, 8-2, at No. 1 doubles while, at No. 2 doubles, freshman Joan Castillo (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) and sophomore Carlos De La Cruz (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) held on to beat sophomore Kevin Paterno (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and freshman Andres Biondi (Barquisimeto, Venezuela), 8-5.

Following the singles win by Roode to give the Bison a 4-0 lead, freshman Jake Zapatka (Wethersfield, Conn.) blanked Carter 6-0, 6-0 to send Nichols to the Championship round.

Nichols was up in the second-set of the four other singles matches that didn't get the chance to finish. DeLuca was up 6-0, 5-0 on Biondi at No. 1 singles and No. 3 Castillo was up 6-1, 3-1 on Paterno. De La Cruz led Steelman 6-1, 4-2 at No. 4 singles while Halpern was beating Thompson at No. 5 singles 6-1, 3-0.

The Bison will play the winner of No. 3 Endicott/No. 2 Roger Williams in the CCC Championship on Saturday, May 3 at 1:00 p.m. at Clark (MA) University in Worcester, Massachusetts.