Box ScoreSPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Senior captain
Brandon Roode (Griswold, Conn.) picked up wins at singles and doubles as the Nichols College men's tennis team defeated Western New England 8-1 in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action Wednesday afternoon at the Volvo Outdoor Courts.
The Bison complete the regular season 15-5 (7-1 CCC) and will host a CCC Semifinal match on Wednesday at a time and against a team to be determined.
Nichols took a 2-1 lead after doubles. Roode and freshman
Austin DuBois (Simsbury, Conn.) took care of business against junior Andres Otero (Caracas, Venezuela) and senior PJ Nassar (Longmeadow, Mass.) in the top flight, winning 8-2.
Sophomore
James Smith (Monte Sereno, Calif.) and junior
Josh Halpern (Secaucus, N.J.) played a tight match at No. 2 doubles against juniors Alexander Sause (Cusago, Italy) and Adam Zimmerman (South Windsor, Conn.) before taking it 9-7.
The Golden Bears (7-7, 3-5 CCC) took their only point of the day at No. 3 doubles. Seniors Greg Tishofer (Portland, Conn.) and Chris Spear (Windsor, Conn.) defeated sophomore
Joan Castillo (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) and senior
Cam Lewis (Bolton, Conn.), 8-5.
The Bison swept through the singles matches. Roode defeated Otero 6-1, 6-1 in the top flight, and remains a perfect 7-0 in CCC-play this year and 24-2 in his career against conference opponents.
In No. 2 singles, Smith defeated Sause 6-1, 6-4 while Castillo defeated Spear 6-1, 5-7, 10-4 at No. 3 singles.
Halpern defeated senior Peter LeFrancois (Marlborough, Mass.) at No. 4 singles 6-0, 6-0 while at No. 5 singles, sophomore
Jake Zapatka (Wethersfield, Conn.) took down senior John Mindek (Willington, Conn.) 6-2, 6-3. DuBois rounded out the day by defeating Tischofer 6-4, 6-4 to move to 15-0 on the year.
"
Brandon Roode was phenomenal today," said head coach
Paul Brower. "We have an uphill battle during the playoffs and his efforts have set the tone. I hope our entire team will rise to the occasion and match his effort in the tournament."
The Golden Bears claim the No. 6 seed in the CCC Tournament and will travel to take on No. 3 Gordon on Saturday at a time to be announced.
