Box Score
BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Men's Tennis earned their second straight berth to The Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship match with a 5-0 win against third-seeded Western New England Friday afternoon.
With the win, the second-seeded Hawks will face off against the #1 seed Nichols College Saturday afternoon on the road at 1:00 p.m. Nichols edged Roger Williams with a 5-4 win back on March 29, but the Hawks have not lost since the matchup, having won their last ten in a row.
Mother Nature did little in cooperating for the semifinal matchup between the Golden Bears and the Hawks. Originally scheduled for Wednesday, the two teams were forced to play the doubles portion of the match at Centre Court in East Providence before returning back to campus to finish the match. Yet rainy conditions forced the match to be postponed until today, where the teams concluded the singles portion.
On Wednesday, the Hawks began the match with a 3-0 sweep of doubles, winning all three matches by identical 8-3 scores. Jeff DeNunzio (Barrington, R.I.) and Dan Kleitz (Wethersfield, Conn.) paired up for the first time this season to take their #1 match against Brian Relihan (Orange, Conn.) and Mike Jones (Stone Ridge, N.Y.). Kevin Erikson (Tolland, Conn.) and Spencer Withington (Plymouth, Mass.) also made their debut together for a victory over Chris Holzinger (Foster, R.I.) and JonPaul Ouellette (Bethlehem, Conn.) at #2. Jason Pacino (North Reading, Mass.) and Nicholas Hawvermale (Bethlehem, Conn.) wrapped up the sweep with a win against Matt Minahan (Plymouth, Mass.) and Tim Santye (Skillman, N.J.).
Fast forwarding to today, Withington began the Hawks' road to victory with a 6-4, 6-0 decision over Minahan before Erikson won 6-4, 6-3 against Mike Jones to advance the Hawks back to the championship.
Western New England concludes its season with a record 14-5.
Tennis Match Results
Western New England vs Roger Williams
04/29/11 at Bristol, R.I.
Roger Williams 5, Western New England 0
Singles competition:
1. Jeff DeNunzio (RWU) vs. Brian Relihan (WNEC) 6-4, 5-4, unfinished
2. Kevin Erikson (RWU) def. Mike Jones (WNEC) 6-4, 6-3
3. Dan Kleitz (RWU) vs. Chris Holzinger (WNEC) 3-6, 3-4, unfinished
4. Jason Pacino (RWU) vs. JonPaul Ouellette (WNEC) 6-4, 5-0, unfinished
5. Spencer Withington (RWU) def. Matt Minahan (WNEC) 6-4, 6-0
6. Taylor Webster (RWU) vs. Tim Santye (WNEC) 6-4, 4-5, unfinished
Doubles competition:
1. Jeff DeNunzio/Dan Kleitz (RWU) def. Mike Jones/Brian Relihan (WNEC) 8-3
2. Kevin Erikson/Spencer Withington (RWU) def. Chris Holzinger/JonPaul Ouellette (WNEC) 8-3
3. Nicholas Hawvermale/Jason Pacino (RWU) def. Shawn Fitzpatrick/Matt Minahan (WNEC) 8-3
Match Notes:
Western New England 14-5
Roger Williams 16-6
The Commonwealth Coast Conference Semifinals
#2 Roger Williams vs. #3 Western New England
Roger Williams advances to TCCC Championship Match for 2nd straight year
