Men’s Tennis Falls in CCC Championship Match to Nichols, 5-3
QUINCY, Mass.- The top-seeded Eastern Nazarene College men's tennis team fell to second-seeded Nichols 5-3 in the 2017 Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship Sunday afternoon at the ENC Tennis Courts.
The Lions finish the year with a 17-4 overall record with the loss. The Bison improve to 18-3 overall and advance to the NCAA Tournament as they captured their sixth-straight title.
The home team trailed 2-1 at the conclusion of doubles action.
Alex Partyka (Moscow, Russia) and Henry Siercke (Hamburg, Germany) rolled to their 10th consecutive victory at the No. 1 doubles position, downing Blake Norton and Brandon Howard 8-5.
Santiago Camero (Valencia, Venezuela) and Kyle Pierson (Redding, Calif.) suffered an 8-4 setback at the second slot to Guilherme Barbosa and James Smith.
Laurent Ruttkowski (Castrop-Rauxel, Germany) and Davis Steelman (Darlington, Md.) dropped an 8-3 decision to Peter Coletti and Igor Markowski at the third spot.
Nichols earned three wins in singles play to clinch the CCC crown.
Siercke outlasted Howard at the No. 2 singles position in three sets to collect his 14th victory of the season. Siercke, the CCC Rookie of the Year, claimed the first set 6-3 before dropping the second frame 6-1 and bouncing back to prevail 6-4 in the third.
Ruttkowski fell in three sets at the No. 3 spot to Smith as the Bison regained the lead in the match, 3-2. Ruttkowski dropped the first frame 6-1 and stormed back to notch a 6-2 win in the second to force a third set. Ruttkowski absorbed a 6-3 loss to Smith in the third frame.
Pierson endured a three-set loss at the No. 5 singles spot to Jack Donaldson as Nichols pushed its advantage to 4-2. Pierson narrowly fell in the opening set 6-4 before rebounding to grab the second set 6-3. The rookie dropped the deciding third frame 6-3.
Partyka earned his 10th straight victory at the No. 1 singles position, topping Norton in three sets to cut Eastern Nazarene's deficit to 4-3. Partyka, the CCC Player of the Year, dropped the first set 6-4 before rallying to claim the second and third frames 6-1, 6-3.
Camero fell in three sets at the No. 4 slot to Barbosa as the Bison clinched the match. After edging Barbosa in the opening set 6-4, Camero dropped the second 6-2 and the third 6-1.
When the match was halted, Steelman trailed Jake Zapatka 4-2 in the first set in the sixth singles match.