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Andres and Buddy (Athletic Communications Photo)
Andres and Buddy (Athletic Communications Photo)
Posted: Apr 20, 2012

Men's tennis tops Brandeis in finale

Three seniors help Bulldogs take down Brandeis, 10-5, in season finale

WALTHAM, Mass. - The Bryant University men's tennis team ended the 2011-12 season on a high note, as key victories by the team's three graduating seniors, Daniel Cournoyer (Jefferson, Mass.), Buddy McQuade (Manchester, N.H.) and Andres Orobitg (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) pushed the Bulldogs to a 10-5 victory over Division III Brandeis in a match that allowed every player in both lineups to compete for a point.

With the win in their finale, the Bulldogs wrap up their final season of reclassification with an overall record of 12-7 while going 3-1 in the Northeast Conference. Highlights of the year included an unprecedented nine-match winning streak and wins over the No. 1 preseason pick in the conference, Quinnipiac, along with the program's first-ever win over the University of Connecticut.

Both coaches agreed to allow every player to compete for a point before the match began, allowing for a different-than-usual scoring format over the course of the match. But it was the play of Bryant's three seniors that proved to be the most valuable, as all three players won their respective singles and doubles matches to secure five out of the 10 Bulldog points.

 

"They carried the team," head coach Ron Gendron said afterward. "They were responsible for 5-of-10 points. I couldn't be prouder of those three young men. They're graduating seniors, they're great guys and they're going to go on to do great things. I was extremely happy to see them make the most out of their opportunities in the lineup today."

The Judges got off to an early lead by taking the first two doubles matches to go ahead, 2-0, but the Bulldogs would answer by winning the remaining three doubles matches. The freshmen duo of Zachary Morris (Garden City, N.Y.) and Richard Sipala (Quogue, N.Y.) answered with an 8-5 victory at #3 doubles over Ben Fine and David Yovanoff to put the Bulldogs on the board, and Cournoyer teamed up with sophomore Connor Crowley (London, Ont.) to earn a 9-7 win over Evan Berner and Matthew Zuckerman at #4. Finally, McQuade and Orobitg downed Adam Brown and Michael DeFeo, 8-5, to put the Bulldogs ahead, 3-2, after doubles.

Moving to singles, Brandeis tied the match at 3-all after Josh Jordan downed Morris, 6-4; 6-4 in the #1 singles bout, but the Bulldogs answered with back-to-back wins at #2 and #3 singles, respectively. Sophomore Dana Parziale (Pinehurst, N.C.) won his team-leading 21st singles match of the season to finish the year 21-11 overall by means of a 6-3; 7-5 win against Yovanoff, while freshman Ernesto Arguello (Managua, Nicaragua) took down Alec Siegel, 7-6 (3); 6-1 to finish the year with a  15-13 overall record.

"Those two [Dana and Ernesto] were big for us all season, and they got two more big wins for us today," Gendron said. "Ernesto wins a first-set tiebreaker and that was huge in his match, while Dana gutted out a tough second set in his win. Ernie got better with every passing match this season, and Dana continues to prove that he is among the best in our conference. With continued practice, hard work and conditioning in the offseason, those two should be even better next year."

After Brandeis clawed to within 6-5 with wins at #4 and #6 singles, the Bulldogs would seal the match with four straight victories, taking the final four singles bouts to win by the final score of 10-5.

Again, it was the impressive play of all three seniors that helped the Bulldogs put away Brandeis, as Cournoyer downed DeFeo, 7-5; 6-3 at the #8 match, while Orobitg took down Jon Ostrowsky, 7-6 (1); 6-0 in the #9 flight. Finally, McQuade wrapped it up with a 6-3; 6-4 win against Berner to conclude the match.

Despite the loss of the three seniors, the Bulldogs will be primed for a run at their first-ever Northeast Conference title next season when they become eligible for the conference's postseason tournament. Bryant returns 5-of-6 starters in both singles and doubles and will be bolstered by a strong recruiting class for the 2012-13 season.

"I'm excited for next year, and I'm proud of my team for all that they accomplished this year," Gendron said. "Could we have been better? Absolutely. There's still plenty we have to work on, and we're still a long way off from the team that I envision we can be. But we're young, we have a strong nucleus to build on, and I think we're just getting started."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Bryant 10, Brandeis 5

Doubles

  1. Jordan/Milo def. Arguello/Gonzalez-Paz 8-4
  2. Secular/Siegel def. Huot/Rubinstein 8-4
  3. Morris/Sipala def. Fine/Yovanoff 8-5
  4. Cournoyer/Crowley def. Berner/Zuckerman 9-7
  5. McQuade/Orobitg def. Brown/DeFeo 8-5

Singles

  1. Jordan def. Morris 6-2; 6-4
  2. Parziale def. Yovanoff 6-3; 7-5
  3. Arguello def. Siegel 7-6 (3); 6-1
  4. Secular def. Gonzalez-Paz 6-3; 6-0
  5. Huot def. Brown 6-1; 3-6; 6-4
  6. Fine def. Rubinstein 7-6; 6-3
  7. Crowley def. DeFeo 6-3; 6-3
  8. Cournoyer def. Zuckerman 7-5; 6-3
  9. Orobitg def. Ostrowsky 7-6 (1); 6-0
  10. McQuade def. Berner 6-3; 6-4

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For continuing coverage of Bryant University men's tennis, check back online at www.bryantbulldogs.com; also follow the Bulldogs on Twitter @BryantAthletics.