Box Score

WORCESTER, Mass. - Freshman Jake Zapatka (Wethersfield, Conn.) cruised to victory at No. 5 singles as the Nichols College men's tennis team defeated Holy Cross University 9-0 Sunday afternoon in non-conference action at the Sinnott Family Tennis Center.

The Bison got off to a great start sweeping through the doubles matches. The No. 1 doubles team of graduate student Justin DeLuca (Mashpee, Mass.) and junior Brandon Roode (Griswold, Conn.) defeated senior Ryan Sullivan (Mefield, Mass.) and freshman Jimmy Ye (Boston, Mass.) 8-1. Freshman Joan Castillo (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) and sophomore Carlos De La Cruz (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) knocked off freshman Sean Frebes (Cleveland, Ohio) and freshman Pat O'Shea (Wilbraham, Mass.) 8-4 at No. 2 doubles.

Perhaps the toughest match of the day came in the No. 3 doubles match. Sophomore Josh Halpern (Secaucus, N.J.) and freshman James Smith (Monte Sereno, Calif.) bested sophomore Charlie Volkwein (Surry, Maine) and freshman Elmar Lutz (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) 9-8 (7-4).

Nichols took five of the six singles matches in straight sets. Halpern had no trouble with junior Rob Buetti (Bay Shore, N.Y.) at No. 6 singles, winning 6-0, 6-0 while at No. 3 singles, Castillo defeated Frebes 6-1, 6-1.

Zapatka and DeLuca both won by scores of 6-2, 6-0 with Zapatka defeating Volkwein at No. 5 singles and DeLuca taking down Sullivan at No. 1 singles. At No. 4 singles, De La Cruz beat O'Shea 6-3, 6-3.

Roode had the toughest test at No. 2 singles as he and Ye split the first two sets 6-2, 4-6 before Roode came back with a 10-6 win in the third set to secure the sweep of the day for the Bison.

"It is great to see the guys playing at such a high level this early in the season," said Nichols head coach Paul Brower. "I was impressed with the way Joan and Carlos bounced back after a loss yesterday with a convincing win and our third doubles did a good job of maintaining composure in their tie break. Overall this was the perfect way to follow up a big win yesterday, with a shutout against another solid opponent."

The Bison host conference foe Anna Maria Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. at the Pomfret Tennis Courts. Holy Cross (3-9) hosts Siena on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.