Kuhar named NEC Player of the Week

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Bryant University men's tennis redshirt junior Matt Kuhar (Smithfield, R.I.) has been named the Northeast Conference Player of the Week, the league announced on Tuesday.

Kuhar's landmark campaign continued with a 3-1 mark at both #1 singles and #1 doubles as the Bulldogs posted a 2-2 record with wins over Buffalo and Chattanooga and 4-3 setbacks to UNC Wilmington and UNC Greensboro.

The Smithfield, Rhode Island, native knocked off first team All-MAC player Hao Sheng Koay of Buffalo (6-1, 6-4) before rallying to beat UNCW's Andres Torres (1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4)), a first team All-CAA honoree a year ago. After dropping a tough 7-5, 7-6 decision to reigning Southern Conference Player of the Year Connor Thompson of UNCG, Kuhar rebounded with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Chattanooga's Niklas Gerdes, who was named to the SoCon All-Freshman team last season. The junior improved his spring singles record to 16-3 and is now 22-7 overall in 2017-18. Kuhar and junior Artur Jakubowski (Dallas, Texas) also boosted their doubles record to 15-8 on the year.

In addition, freshman Grant Pertile (Edgartown, Mass.) was named an NEC Prime Performer. He teamed with senior Luke Lorenz (Colorado Springs, Colo.) to go 3-1 at No. 3 doubles, winning matches against Buffalo, UNC Greensboro and Chattanooga. Pertile and Lorenz are now 14-4 on the year and have won 11 of their last 13 matches.