Kuhar and Ortiz-Garcia earn NEC monthly tennis honors

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's tennis team swept the Northeast Conference Monthly Awards as redshirt sophomore Matt Kuhar (Smithfield, R.I.) was named player of the month and freshman Jorge Isaias Ortiz-Garcia (Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico) earned rookie of the month, as announced by the league on Wednesday afternoon.

Kuhar, who was the 2014-15 NEC Rookie of the Year, was the lone NEC player to reach the round of 32 at the ITA Northeast Regional held at Penn. He posted a big 6-1, 7-5 win over three-time All-Patriot League honoree Sam Lampman of Army, before falling to 6-2, 7-5 to Columbia's Shawn Hadavi, the 55th-ranked player in the country and the 2015-16 Ivy League Player of the Year. The Rhode Island native, who sat out last year with an injury, finished the fall season with a 6-3 singles mark.

Since joining his brother on the Bulldogs, Ortiz-Garcia has made quite the impression this fall for Bryant. The rookie won all three of his singles matches and went a perfect 3-0 in doubles competition at the Army Shootout in early October. Competing at the No. 5 and No. 6 singles spots, Ortiz-Garcia knocked off Army's Daniel Zheng, 6-2, 6-1, Sacred Heart's Matthew Suprenant, 6-0, 6-4, and Stony Brook's Justin Park, 6-1, 6-1. He also teamed with fellow freshman Andrew Quiros (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) for his three doubles victories.