Gulls fall in semifinals to top-seeded Salve
April 22, 2008
NEWPORT, R.I. - Top-seeded Salve Regina University will play for its seventh-straight conference title after sweeping No. 4 Endicott College, 9-0, in The Commonwealth Coast Conference men's tennis semifinals on Tuesday afternoon in Newport, R.I.
Salve Regina (17-3) won all six singles matches in straight sets after taking all three doubles matches. Senior Robbie Norton (Exeter, N.H.) teamed with freshman Trey Van Buskirk (La Jolla, Calif.) to win 8-1 at No. 1 doubles, and then defeated Dan Murray (Coventry, R.I.) of Endicott (12-6) 6-0, 6-1 just minutes after the match at third doubles was complete. Salve Regina's No. 2 doubles team of Jason Lago (Seabrook, N.H.) and Andrew Martin (Glastonbury, Conn.) also won their match by an 8-1 score.
The day's most competitive match was at No. 3 doubles, where Seahawk senior Michael Collins (Winchester, Mass.) and freshman Chris Tolo (Shelton, Conn.) outlasted Marc Maloney (Feeding Hills, Mass.) and Scott Teller (Granville, N.Y.), 9-7. The first game in the match lasted more than 40 minutes, and the overall match went for nearly one hour and 45 minutes.
Lago beat Endicott junior Josh Schoen (Phoneix, Ariz.) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3), while Tolo rallied from down 5-2 in the second set to defeat Maloney, 7-5, 7-5, at No. 6 singles.
Salve Regina will host No. 2 Roger Williams University in the TCCC finals. Roger Williams defeated No. 3 Colby-Sawyer College, 7-2 on Tuesday. During the regular season, Salve Regina beat the Hawks, 5-4. Two of the singles matches won in the first meeting by Salve Regina were decided in three sets.
Endicott ends its season after the most successful campaign in program history. Tuesday marked the end of the careers of seniors Nate Buell (Westfield, Mass.) and Darcy Wiart (Queensbury, N.Y.). The Gulls end 2008 with a 12-6 overall record, by far the best since the programs inception in 1996-97. First-year head coach Richard Edelmann helped the Gulls improve upon last year's 9-9 overall record, as his squad posted a 12-6 mark, a full six games above .500.