Box Score

POMFRET, Conn. – The Nichols College men's tennis team defeated Gordon 7-2 in its Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) opener Saturday afternoon at the Pomfret School.
 
Despite dropping the first match of the day – No. 1 doubles – the Bison bounced back to take the remainder of the doubles matches before only dropping one singles match to start 1-0 in CCC-play.
 
Sophomore Blake Norton (Stratford, Conn.) and freshman Brandon Howard (Hamden, Conn.) fell 8-4 to junior Mason Casady (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and sophomore Nate Lookwhy (Westborough, Mass.) at No. 1 doubles to start the afternoon.
 
The No. 2 doubles pairing of senior captain James Smith (Monte Sereno, Calif.) and freshman Guilherme Barbosa (Bradenton, Calif.) took care of business against junior Mike D'Antuono (Mapleville, R.I.) and freshman Eric Kim (La Crescenta, Calif.) – winning 8-5.
 
The Bison held a 2-1 edge after doubles after an 8-5 win at No. 3 doubles from the sophomore duo of Kirill Ivanov (Moscow, Russia) and Igor Markowski (Paris, France) over junior Peter Godwin (Manchester, Conn.) and freshman Jonathan Frink (La Crescenta, Calif.).
 
Howard opened up singles play with a decisive victory at No. 3 singles over Frink, 6-2, 6-2 before Norton won a three-set battle with Casady at No. 1 singles 6-1, 0-6, 6-3.
 
Smith won his No. 4 singles matchup 6-2, 6-2 over D'Antuono to seal up the Bison's team win.
 
The Fighting Scots got their only singles win at No. 2 singles with Lookwhy coming back after dropping the first set to Barbosa – 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.
 
The Bison ended the day with wins at No. 5 and No. 6 singles as freshman Jack Donaldson (Easton, Md.) defeated Kim 4-6, 6-2, 10-5 before senior Jake Zapatka (Wethersfield, Conn.) defeated Godwin 6-4, 6-3.
 
Quotes
"Overall, I think we played well. It wasn't our best tennis but it was enough to get the job done. I was very impressed with the way our young guys fought through some adversity. Jack (Donaldson) shook of a tough first set to play outstanding the rest of the way, and Blake (Norton) did a great job recovering from a rough middle set." – Nichols head coach Paul Brower
 
"Next up we face a very talented team and I hope that our level continues to rise as we get ready for a great battle." – Brower on facing ENC next
 
All-Time Series
The Bison have now won the last nine meetings with the Fighting Scots and lead the all-time series, 21-3. The last win for Gordon in the series came back in 2008.
 
Next Games
Gordon (7-4, 0-1 CCC – Tuesday, March 28 vs Curry, 3:30 p.m.
Nichols (6-2, 1-0 CCC) – Tuesday, March 28 at Eastern Nazarene, 3:30 p.m.