Ortiz-Garcia, Massam pick up monthly honors from NEC

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Senior Jorge Ortiz-Garcia (Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico) and freshman Trent Massam (Wellington, New Zealand) from the Bryant University men's tennis team have been honored with monthly awards from the Northeast Conference.

Ortiz-Garcia was named the NEC Player of the Month for September, while Massam take's home rookie of the month honors. It is the first NEC honor for Ortiz-Garcia and Massam.

A three-time All-NEC performer, Ortiz-Garcia has started his senior year with a 5-1 singles mark and a 6-1 mark in doubles. He posted a 3-0 record in singles at the Ivy Plus, collecting wins over opponents from Penn, Brown and Harvard. In doubles, Ortiz-Garcia has paired with his younger brother Jorge Isaias Ortiz-Garcia (Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico) to post wins over tandems from BU, Harvard, Penn and Brown at the Ivy Plus.

Massam has adjusted quickly to the college game, posting a 4-3 singles record in the first month of the season. He opened his career with a 6-1, 7-6 (5) victory over Marist's Christopher Gladden, the 2016-17 MAAC Rookie of the Year, at the Ivy Plus. Massam then followed that up with a perfect 3-0 showing at the Brown Invitational, posting wins over Villanova, BC and BU.

In addition, redshirt junior Matt Kuhar (Smithfield, R.I.) was named an NEC Prime Performer. Kuhar opened the year at the Oracle ITA Masters, competing against the No. 3 player in the country. Last week at Brown, he went 2-1 in singles and doubles.