BROOKLINE, Mass. – The Newbury College men's tennis team won for the eleventh time in 2014 as they swept the season series with Lesley University following Saturday's 9-0 victory in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) action. The Nighthawks move to 11-4 overall and secured the number two seed in the NECC play-offs with an 8-2 conference record while Lesley drops to 2-10 and 2-8 in the NECC.
Junior Joey Verdon (Catskill, N.Y.) and first year Christian Repunte (Burlington, Mass.) started the match off with a commanding 8-0 win in first doubles. In second doubles action, seniors Gerard Font-Raventos (Barcelona, Spain) and Steve Carey (Andover, Mass.) won 8-4 over the Lynx pair of Billy Baker(Sacramento, Calif.) and Chris Hunt (San Diego, Calif.). The Nighthawks moved to a 3-0 advantage with a third doubles victory 8-1, courtesy of senior John Morgan(Cumberland, R.I.) and junior Wayne Gethers (Cambridge, Mass.).
Repunte grabbed his eighth win overall as he continued his stellar play into first singles, dropping only one game during a two-set 6-0, 6-1 win over senior Aquib Shah (Watertown, Mass.). Second singles saw Morgan take down sophomore Trevor Martin (Whitinsville, Mass.) 6-0, 6-2 giving the Nighthawks a 5-0 lead in the match.
Newbury continued to wrap up two-set wins as Font-Raventos took third singles 6-4, 6-1 over Baker and Carey defeated Chris Anderson 6-0, 6-0 in sixth singles. In fifth singles action, Gethers picked up his program-best eleventh singles win of the season with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Jack Tortorici (Grass Valley, Calif.). Lesley looked to grab a win at number four singles, as Martin took the first set 7-5 over Verdon. But Verdon responded in the second set with a 6-2 win forcing a third set tiebreaker. Both athletes exchanged numerous volleys until Verdon took control and defeated Martin 10-6 to take the win and finish the match.
The Nighthawk's celebrated their senior class today, improving to a program best 11-4 overall and 8-2 in the conference. Lesley drops to 2-8 in the NECC and 2-10 overall with the loss today. The Nighthawks return to the courts on Wednesday, April 23rd when they will host an NECC Semi-final Tournament match at Pine Manor College in Brookline, Mass. Match opponent and time will be announced soon. The Lynx have one final game left on the schedule when they travel to Salve Regina University on Sunday April 27th at 1:00 p.m.