Endicott 5, McDaniel 4; Gulls start Hilton Head trip with narrow win

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – The Endicott men's tennis competed in their first match of their annual spring break trip down to Hilton Head for the Spring Tennis Fest and narrowly defeated McDaniel 5-4 behind a strong effort in both singles and doubles by freshman Michael Dolph (Stratford, Conn.).

Dolph led Endicott (1-2) to victories at both #5 singles and #2 doubles with senior partner Benjamin Randlett (Middlebury, Vt.) against the Green Terror.  After a 6-0, 6-2 win in singles over his McDaniel's opponent Daniel Xinis (Owings, Md.), Dolph and Randlett grinded out an 8-6 victory at the second doubles flight over Xinis and Matthew Langsdale (Hampstead, Md.) to earn Endicott's match clinching point.

The Gulls had taken a 4-2 lead, as the match had started with singles play, behind wins at #1, #3, #5, and #6 singles.  Senior Olivier Joggi (Stoneham, Mass.) battled in a third set tiebreaker to win 6-3, 3-6, 11-9 while teammates Randlett, Dolph, and sophomore Justin Warshavsky (East Hartford, Conn.) all claim straight set wins over their McDaniel opponents.

Following singles play, McDaniel won 2-of-3 doubles matches including a tightly contested 9-7 win over Joggi and Jake Cohen (Barrington, R.I.) by Green Terror duo Brian Kron (Upperco, Md.) and Seth McFall (Dover, Del.). 

Endicott continues their non-conference spring break challenge with a 12:00 pm match against Graceland (Iowa) tomorrow.