SMITHFIELD, R.I. – For the second-straight season, the Bryant men's tennis team fought off a very strong Fairleigh Dickinson team to capture the 2015 Northeast Conference Championship, defeating the Knights, 4-3, Sunday afternoon in West Windsor, N.J.
For the third-straight year, the NEC Men's Tennis Championship Game came down to single, deciding match and for the second year in-a-row it was the Bulldogs who narrowly edged FDU to win capture its second consecutive title.
In a contest that was almost inevitably going to come down to a single match, the Black and Gold jumped out to a commanding 3-0 lead before the second-seeded Knights steadily chipped away, evening the score 3-3 with No. 4 singles serving as the deciding factor. In the four spot, Bryant sophomore Oliver Welsh (San Diego, Calif.) found himself down early after dropping the first set to Gonzalo Quintana, 6-4, but he refused to go down without a fight, surging back to win set two, 6-4, and eventually clinch the match with a 7-5 win in the third.
With the win, the Bulldogs earn a berth to the 2015 NCAA Championships which kick off on Friday, May 8 with regional first round action.
On Sunday however, Bryant got things started with a strong showing in doubles competition. Freshman Luke Lorenz (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and junior Max Vogt (Fair Oaks, Calif.) made quick work of Adam Chan and Diogo Garnel, 8-1, at No. 3 doubles with senior duo Ernesto Arguello (Managua, Nicaragua) and Zachary Morris (Garden City, N.Y.) following suit with an 8-2 victory over Quintana and Arnaud Valentin at the No. 2 spot.
Riding the momentum, the Bulldogs upped their lead in singles action thanks to wins from a pair of rookies. Lorenz completed the 2-0 afternoon with a big win at No. 3 singles, knocking off Chan, 6-4, 6-3, while Jorge Ortiz-Garcia (Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico) improved his NEC Championship record to 2-0 with a victory over Valentin, 6-3, 6-4, in the six spot.
With everything going Bryant's way, the tide slowly began to turn in favor of the Knights who earned points at No. 2, 1, and 5 singles to even the score, 3-3, with No. 4 singles yet to be determined. But it was Welsh who stepped up to knock off Quintana to secure the repeat for the Black and Gold.
Looking ahead, the Bulldogs will have a few days before they learn their NCAA fate with the Selection Show on Tuesday, April 28 (5:30 p.m.) live on NCAA.com before opening first round action at regional sites on Friday, May 8.
