Box Score

WORCESTER, Mass. - The Nichols College men's tennis team defeated Endicott College 5-0 Thursday afternoon at the Sinnott Family Tennis Center to advance to the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship.

The Bison advance to the CCC Championship for the fifth-consecutive season and are looking for their fourth-consecutive championship victory when they play No. 1 Roger Williams on Saturday in Bristol, R.I.

Nichols (16-5) jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead after doubles play. Senior captain Brandon Roode (Griswold, Conn.) and freshman Austin DuBois (Simsbury, Conn.) – who were named CCC First Team-doubles earlier this week – played a tight match with fellow CCC First Teamers freshman Chris Kirkpatrick (Newburyport, Mass.) and junior Michael Dolph (Stratford, Conn.) before coming away with an 8-6 win at No. 1 doubles.

At No. 2 doubles, sophomore James Smith (Monte Sereno, Calif.) and junior Josh Halpern (Secaucus, N.J.) took down junior Eric Pierce (Barrington, R.I.) and senior Eric Gandrup (Sudbury, Mass.), 8-2.

Sophomore Joan Castillo (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) and senior Cam Lewis (Bolton, Conn.) rounded out doubles with an 8-3 win at No. 3 doubles over seniors Michael Lauretano (Winchester, Mass.) and Justin Warshavsky (East Hartford, Conn.).

Following an aggravated injury to Kirkpatrick – the CCC Rookie of the Year – the Gulls (11-7) were forced to bump everyone in the lineup up one spot heading into singles play.

For Pierce that meant a matchup with the CCC Player of the Year at No. 1 singles. Roode took care of business, extending his winning streak to 19-matches, winning 6-0, 6-1.

DuBois closed out the day with a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 6 singles over Warshavsky.

In matches that did not finish, Smith and Dolph had split sets 6-0, 2-6 at No. 2 singles while at No. 3 singles Castillo led Lauretano 6-4, 1-0. Halpern breezed through the first set at No. 4 singles before playing a tighter second set with sophomore Sean McAndrews (Vineyard Haven, Mass.) before their match was left unfinished at 6-0, 4-3. Sophomore Jake Zapatka (Wethersfield, Conn.) split sets at No. 5 singles with freshman Nicholas Eherts (New Milford, Conn.) 3-6, 5-0.

The Bison travel to play No. 1 Roger Williams in the CCC Championship for the fifth consecutive season on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.