Box Score

Dudley, Mass. – The Nichols College men's tennis team opened up its fall schedule with a 9-0 loss to Babson College in non-conference action Wednesday evening at the Pomfret School.

Both teams are coming off seasons where they advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The Bison falling in the first round to MIT while Babson defeated Colby-Sawyer in the first round of the tournament before being eliminated by Middlebury in the second round.

Babson (1-0) got off to a strong start in the doubles matches. The No. 3 doubles team of Felix Wee and senior Roy Murdock (Santa Monica, Calif.) got the best of junior Josh Halpern (Secaucus, N.J.) and freshman Austin DuBois 8-1.

Junior Isaac Thylen (Surfside, Fla.) and classmate Victor Vu (Los Angeles, Calif.) defeated senior Cam Lewis (Bolton, Mass.) and freshman Jordan Eriksen 8-3 at No. 2 doubles.

Nichols (0-1) had a 6-5 lead at No. 1 doubles before seniors Ramone Doyley (Kingston, Jamaica) and Connor DeFiore (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) came back to win the match 8-6 over senior Brandon Roode (Griswold, Conn.) and freshman Keenan Hughes.

The Beavers continued their success in the singles matches. DeFiore defeated Hughes 6-1, 6-0 at No. 5 singles, followed by Thylen getting the best of sophomore Joan Castillo (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) 6-2, 6-0 at No. 2 singles.

Lewis fell in the No. 6 flight to freshman Robert Roque (Coral Gables, Fla.) 6-1, 6-1 while Wee defeated Halpern at No. 3 singles 6-4, 6-1.

The Bison were actually able to force a tie-breaker in the first sets of the No. 1 and No. 4 singles matches. Roode fell to Vu at No. 1 singles 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 while sophomore Jake Zapatka (Wethersfield, Conn.) fell by an identical score at the No. 4 flight to Doyley.

"This is a tough loss to a very good team," said Nichols head coach Paul Brower. "Some good things happened and some bad things as well, but we know what we need to work on."

Both teams will return to action on Friday at 9 a.m. the ITA New England Championships hosted by Middlebury College.