DUDLEY, Mass. (5/8/24) – With their 14
th Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship in hand, the Nichols College Bison men's tennis is set to head to Brunswick, Maine to host school Bowdoin College for the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. They will match up with the Farmingdale State College Rams who enter the tournament via an automatic bid as the champions of the Skyline Conference. The match will be played at Bowdoin College on Friday May 10
th with the match time set for 12PM.
How to Watch: Live Stats |
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In the event of poor weather, the match will be moved to an indoor venue, with no live video available.
Last Trip to the NCAA Tournament: The Bison are no stranger to NCAA tournament action, as this will be their 11
th trip to the national stage. Last season, they met Houghton out of New York in the first-round matchup. The Bison came out flying in that match, going up 3-0 early in doubles play. Bison
Enzo Matos Balleux clinched the match for the Bison in that one with a (6-2, 6-0) win at number six singles. The Bison took the win over the Highlanders 5-0 to advance to round two. In the second round the Bison fell to now regional host and NESCAC powerhouse Bowdoin 5-0 to finish their campaign.
The Rams fell in the NCAA first round last season to Baruch 1-5, they competed at the Tufts regional in Massachusetts.
All-Time Series: This match will be the first meeting all-time between the Nichols College Bison and Farmingdale State Rams in men's tennis.
Who to Watch: In their conference tournament run, the Bison enjoyed much of the CCC dominance that they experience in the regular season, winning the semi-final 5-1 over Gordon, and the championship 5-0 over Endicott. The Bison's depth lineup is what prevailed for them, with playoff securing points being the driven doubles two and three, and singles four through six.
Leading the way for the Bison is CCC Player of the Year
Leon Zeis. He has been a lock all season in the number one position for the Bison, going undefeated in singles play, and dropping just one game in doubles action in the regular season. He went 1-1 in doubles in playoff and was leading in both his singles matches that were cut short due to deciding points.
Joining Zeis is two-time player of the week honoree senior
Trevor Schwarzmann. He's undefeated in both singles and doubles action and got honored by the Commonwealth Coast Conference as a first-team all-conference for singles, and second-team all-conference for doubles. In the playoffs, he was a perfect 2-0 at three doubles alongside partner
Enzo Matos Balleux.
The CCC championship was won by number four-singles star
Enzo Matos Balleux. A first-team all-conference honoree, Matos Balleux won all four of his playoff matches at singles and doubles, and was a lock all season for the Bison, including with the championship clinching fifth point.
The Bison lineup will be rounded out by the powerhouses of CCC first-team honorees
Richard Hartmann Zuzio, and
Kerem Subasi. Senior
Caio Dieckmann will round out the lineup for the Bison as he is undefeated this season for the Bison appearing in various positions for the black-and-green this season.
When asked about the matchup CCC Coach of the Year
Ron Gendron said "We are grateful to represent the CCC and Nichols College in the NCAA tournament. We are looking forward to our first opponent in Farmingdale and having the ability to stretch our season. It's been a great year. We really want to thank everyone from our athletic department. Strength coaches and friends at Pomfret and Unlimited Academy. So many people play their role and helping us achieve a successful season and pass along a big thank you! Go Bison!!"
Follow @ncbison on Twitter/X for updates regarding the match updates against the Rams.
