BRISTOL, R.I.- The Roger Williams University men's tennis team won The Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship Saturday, defeating Salve Regina, 5-2. With the win, the Hawks earn the automatic bid into the NCAA National Tournament beginning Friday.

The Hawks had earned the top seed in the playoffs with their 9-0 conference mark which including a dramatic 5-4 victory against the Seahawks on April 1 in Newport. In that meeting, Salve Regina swept the doubles and took a 4-0 lead before Roger Williams rallied for five consecutive singles victories.

In Saturday's match-up, the Hawks had a point on the board before singles started. Salve Regina junior co-captain Andrew Martin (Glastonbury, Conn.) and sophomore Trey Van Buskirk (La Jolla, Calif.) captured the first point with an 8-3 scored at first doubles; senior Collin Cunningham (Wethersfield, Conn.) and junior Steve Masso (No. Scituate, R.I.) made it a 2-0 advantage when they took third doubles, 8-5.

Junior Kyle Baker (Bolton, Conn.) and senior Brad Bolte (Augusta, N.J.), the league's player of the year, outlasted Seahawk sophomore Charlie Normington (Chapel Hill, N.C.) and freshman Zachary Rosenfeld (Easton, Conn.) with a 9-7 score at second doubles.

Baker earned the first team point in singles play with a 6-0,6-3 decision at sixth singles against Rosenfeld to even the overall score at 2-all. Sophomore Dan Kleitz (Wethersfield, Conn.) put the Hawks in the driver's seat, 3-2, with a straight-set win over his former high school teammate, Cunningham.

The remaining four singles matches featured split sets with one set to decide each. Bolte rallied from a first-set loss to Martin, took the middle set without a game against, and then the two top players finished the third just as the regular season meeting had finished, with Bolte winning 7-5. Freshman Jeff DeNunzio (Barrington, R.I.) rallied not only from a first-set loss to Normington, but he also trailed in the second set, 4-1. He won 11 of the next 12 games to clinch Roger Williams' first TCCC title in men's tennis.

Rookie of the Year Ryan Kim (Port Washington, N.Y.) and fellow freshman David Lange (Great Neck, N.Y.) left their respective singles matches with Van Buskirk at second singles and Masso at fourth singles to celebrate with their Hawk teammates on Court #3.

"Both teams played great matches today," said Seahawk head coach Brian Shanley. "If we had earned one singles point earlier, we may have swung momentum. But so much credit to Roger Williams for its outstanding play and its sportsmanship. The Hawks will represent the TCCC very well in the NCAAs."

Salve Regina's seven-year reign ends in its ninth straigtht trip to the conference finals. Roger Williams earns the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championships to commence with regional action on Friday.

 
Tennis Match Results
Salve Regina vs Roger Williams
04/25/09 at Bristol, R.I.
(Mt. Hope High)

Roger Williams 5, Salve Regina 2

Singles competition
1. Brad Bolte (RWU) def. Andrew Martin (SRU) 3-6, 6-0, 7-5
2. Ryan Kim (RWU) vs. Trey Van Buskirk (SRU) 6-1, 5-7, 3-0, unfinished
3. Jeff DeNunzio (RWU) def. Charlie Normington (SRU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
4. David Lange (RWU) vs. Steve Masso (SRU) 3-6, 6-4, 4-4, unfinished
5. Dan Kleitz (RWU) def. Collin Cunningham (SRU) 6-3, 6-2
6. Kyle Baker (RWU) def. Zachary Rosenfeld (SRU) 6-0, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. Andrew Martin/Trey Van Buskirk (SRU) def. Dan Kleitz/Jeff DeNunzio (RWU) 8-3
2. Kyle Baker/Brad Bolte (RWU) def. Charlie Normington/Zachary Rosenfeld (SRU) 9-7
3. Steve Masso/Collin Cunningham (SRU) def. Jeffrey Agonia/Ryan Kim (RWU) 8-5

Match Notes:
Salve Regina 10-10, 7-2
Roger Williams 17-6, 9-0
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (6,5,1,3)
TCCC Finals
T-3:00 A-50
Story courtesy the Salve Regina Sports Information Dept.