Men’s Tennis Clinches Top Seed in CCC Tournament with 9-0 Win at Gordon

BEVERLY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's tennis team battled Gordon late into the night and prevailed 9-0 Tuesday night at the Bass River Tennis Club to capture a share of its first-ever Commonwealth Coast Conference regular-season crown while also locking up the No. 1 seed in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament.

The Lions improve to 15-3 on the year and finish league play with a 7-1 mark. The Fighting Scots fall to 15-5 overall and 6-2 in conference competition.

Eastern Nazarene tied Nichols atop the Commonwealth Coast Conference standings and earned the top seed in the CCC Tournament by way of owning the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Bison. By virtue of the No. 1 seed, the Lions receive a first-round bye and will begin postseason play Wednesday, May 3 as they host a semifinal match.

The visitors collected three victories in doubles play, including a pair of come-from-behind wins, to race out to a 3-0 lead.

Santiago Camero (Valencia, Venezuela) and Kyle Pierson (Redding, Calif.) topped Mike D'Antuono and Eric Kim 8-5 at the No. 2 doubles position.

Davis Steelman (Darlington, Md.) and Laurent Ruttkowski (Castrop-Rauxel, Germany) clipped Jonathan Frink and Peter Godwin 9-7 at the third spot.

Alex Partyka (Moscow, Russia) and Henry Siercke (Hamburg, Germany) edged Mason Casady and Nate Lookwhy 9-8 at the top slot.

Eastern Nazarene chalked up six singles victories to cruise to its 15th win of the season.

Partyka picked up a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Casady at the top singles position to conclude the conference slate with an unblemished 8-0 league record in singles matches.

Siercke downed Lookwhy at the No. 2 spot 6-2, 6-4 to notch the match-clinching point.

Pierson downed Kim in a third-set super-tiebreaker 10-2 after narrowly dropping the first set 7-5 and storming back to win the second frame 6-3.

Steelman outlasted Godwin in a three-set match at the No. 6 slot to collect his team-leading 17th singles win of the year. The senior conceded the opening set 6-4 and bounced back to claim the second 6-2 before rolling to a 6-2 victory in the third set.

Ruttkowski edged Frink in a third-set super-tiebreaker 10-5 at the third position. The rookie fell 7-5 in the first frame and responded with a 6-4 win in the second set.

At the No. 5 spot, Camero triumphed in three sets over D'Antuono. Camero breezed to a 6-1 victory in the opening set and D'Antuono leveled the match with a 7-5 decision in the second. The Lions' rookie seized a 10-8 win in a third-set super-tiebreaker to earn his 12th singles victory.

Looking ahead, the Lions will host Bridgewater State in a non-conference clash April 27.