Bison sweep past Seahawks, 9-0

NEWPORT, R.I. – The Nichols College men's tennis team earned its eighth consecutive dual match victory with a 9-0 win over Salve Regina University during a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) match on Tuesday evening. The loss drops the Seahawks to 1-11 overall and 1-2 in the conference, while the Bison improve to 9-3 on the season and 2-0 during CCC play.

The Bison started the day by sweeping all three doubles matches. Seniors David Drucker (Bellmore, N.Y.) and Arsen Gasparyan (Miami, Fla.) paired-up for an 8-0 victory at No.2 doubles, while sophomore Isaiah Prosper (Manchester, N.H.) joined junior John Deluca (Mashpee, Mass.) to earn an 8-1 win from the No.3 doubles slot.

The most exciting match of the day came at No.1 doubles where Salve Regina's Zachary Rosenfeld (Easton, Conn.) and Aaron Isch (Tolland, Mass.) battled Nichols' Brandon Roode (Griswold, Conn.) and Steve Carella (Rocky Hill, Conn.). The two sides competed their way to an 8-8 score before heading into a tie-breaker, where Roode and Carella prevailed by a score of 7-2.

The Bison finished things out with a 6-0 sweep in singles play. Gasparyan and Prosper earned unblemished 6-0, 6-0 victories from the No.3 and No.4 singles positions, respectively, while Carella took No.5 singles by the score of 6-1, 6-1. Roode defeated Rosenfeld at No.1 singles (6-1, 6-2), while Drucker earned a 6-0, 6-1 win over Isch at No.2 singles. The No.5 singles match was the most competitive, with Bison senior Dan Saucier (Newington, Conn.) battling past Salve Regina freshman Mike Gallerani (Fairfield, Conn.) 6-1, 6-4.

The Bison don't take to the courts again until next Wednesday when they host Roger Williams at 3:30 p.m., while the Seahawks return to action on Thursday, traveling to face UMass Dartmouth at 3:30 p.m.