Men's Tennis Advances to Every Final at NECC Championship
NEW LONDON, Conn. – Nearly all the top seeds advanced in semifinals action at the 2011 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Men's Tennis Championship on Saturday afternoon at the Mitchell College Tennis Courts.
The NECC Championship is comprised of three doubles flights and six singles flights. Mitchell College, Becker College and Lesley University will all be represented in the finals in both doubles and singles play. The Mariners claimed victories at every flight on Saturday and will compete in all nine finals on Sunday. Becker placed two doubles squads and three singles players in the finals while Lesley will send one doubles team and three singles players to the final round.
The day began with three semifinal doubles flights that featured a total of five matches. The lone upset came in the second flight with the third-seeded Becker team of Tim Howard and Branden Parkhouse upending second-seeded Lesley by an 8-6 final, the closest doubles match of the day. The Becker squad will face the top-seeded Mitchell duo of Tyler Engleberg and Alexander Fusco, who advanced past a fourth-seeded Wheelock squad by an 8-2 final.
The top-seeded teams in the first and third flights all advanced to the finals. Mitchell's Kyle Carmona and Rocco Devona will square off against Lesley's David Newton and Alex Zhitnik in the top flight. Becker's Matt Graham and Josh Rasmussen, who received a bye in the semifinals, will meet the Mitchell team of Adam Samuels and Andrew Small in the third flight.
All but two singles matches were decided in straight sets. Lesley's Nick Mattox needed a third set to advance past Wheelock's Bobby Venning by scores of 6-0, 0-6, 6-3 in the second flight. The match between Small and Graham at the fifth flight also needed a deciding set, with Small winning by finals of 6-3, 6-7, 6-3.
The only upset in the singles bracket came in the fourth flight, where third-seeded Brian Piquette of Becker topped the second-seeded Zhitnik. Piquette will face the top-seeded Samuels—who defeated Wheelock's Claire O'Donoghue—in the finals.
Samuels was one of four top-seeded Mitchell players to advance to the final round. Carmona, Devona and Engleberg will represent the Mariners at the first, second and third flights, respectively. Carmona will square off against second-seeded Newton, the only player this season to win a set against the reigning NECC Player of the Year. Devona will meet Mattox while Engleberg takes on Parkhouse.
Rounding out the finals match-ups will be Lesley's Christian Domingo and Small in the fifth flight and Rasmussen and Fusco in the sixth flight.
The 2011 NECC Men's Tennis Championship will conclude with three doubles finals and six singles finals on Sunday, May 1 at the Mitchell College Tennis Courts. Doubles play is slated to begin at 10 a.m. with singles action to follow.
2011 New England Collegiate Conference Men's Tennis Championships
Hosted by Mitchell College, New London, Conn.
Saturday, April 30 and Sunday, May 1
Becker (BC), Lesley (LU), Mitchell (MC), Newbury (NC) and Wheelock (WC)
SATURDAY - SEMIFINALS
DOUBLES
Flight One:
1. #1 Doubles vs. #4 Doubles: Kyle Carmona/Rocco Devona (MC, 6-0) vs. Jake Gilbert/Ryan Piquette (BC, 2-6) MC, 8-1
2. #2 Doubles vs. #3 Doubles: David Newton/Alex Zhitnik (LU, 6-1) vs. Wilson Chang/Bobby Venning (WC 4-2) LU, 8-4
Flight Two:
3. #1 Doubles vs. #4 Doubles: Tyler Engleberg/Alex Fusco (MC, 6-0) vs. Tyler Linhares/Claire O'Donoghue (WC 2-3) MC, 8-2
4. #2 Doubles vs. #3 Doubles: Christian Domingo/Nick Mattox (LU, 6-2) vs. Tim Howard/Branden Parkhouse (BC 5-3) BC, 8-6
Flight Three:
5. #1 Doubles vs. #4 Doubles: Matt Graham/Josh Rasmussen (BC 5-1) vs. BYE
6. #2 Doubles vs. #3 Doubles: Adam Samuels/Andrew Small (MC 3-1) vs. Beau Morimando/Tyler Reeves (LU 2-2) MC, 8-1
SINGLES
Flight One:
7. #1 Singles vs. #4 Singles: Kyle Carmona (MC, 6-0) vs. Benjamin Weiner (NC 2-5) MC, 6-1, 6-0
8. #2 Singles vs. #3 Singles: David Newton (LU, 6-2) vs. Wilson Chang (WC 4-4) LU, 6-4, 6-3
Flight Two:
9. #1 Singles vs. #4 Singles: Rocco Devona (MC, 5-0) vs. Tim Howard (BC 2-5) MC, 6-2, 6-0
10. #2 Singles vs. #3 Singles: Nick Mattox (LU, 6-2) vs. Robert Venning (WC, 3-3) LU, 6-0, 0-6, 6-3
Flight Three:
11. #1 Singles vs. #4 Singles: Tyler Engleberg (MC, 5-0) vs. BYE
12. #2 Singles vs. #3 Singles: Branden Parkhouse (BC 3-4) vs. Tyler Linhares (WC 2-3) BC, 6-2, 6-1
Flight Four:
13. #1 Singles vs. #4 Singles: Adam Samuels (MC 5-0) vs. Claire O'Donoghue (WC 0-5) MC, 6-0, 6-2
14. #2 Singles vs. #3 Singles: Alex Zhitnik (LU 4-2) vs. Brian Piquette (BC 4-3) BC, 6-2, 6-2
Flight Five:
15. #1 Singles vs. #4 Singles: Christian Domingo (LU, 5-0) vs. Irene Gonzalez (WC 0-5) LU, 6-0, 6-0
16. #2 Singles vs. #3 Singles: Andrew Small (MC 4-1) vs. Matt Graham (BC 3-4) MC, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3
Flight Six:
17. #1 Singles vs. #4 Singles: Josh Rasmussen (BC 4-0) vs. BYE
18. #2 Singles vs. #3 Singles: Alex Fusco (MC 3-1) vs. Tyler Reeves (LU, 3-2) MC, 6-2, 6-3
(Records shown are based on their play at that particular position)
*All seeding are based on amount of play at particular position during conference play with 50% rule followed.
