Men's Tennis Wins Eight Titles at NECC Championship
NEW LONDON, Conn. – Three doubles champions and six singles champions were crowned on the final day of the 2011 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Men's Tennis Championship on Sunday afternoon at the Mitchell College Tennis Courts.
The Mitchell College Mariners won eight out of the nine titles, sweeping the day in doubles and taking five of the six singles flights. All six Mitchell players who competed won in either doubles or singles and earned all-tournament honors. Lesley University's Christian Domingo kept the Mariners from sweeping the championship by winning the fifth singles flight.
The day began with three doubles matches. Mitchell's Kyle Carmona and Rocco Devona breezed to an 8-2 win in the first flight against Lesley's David Newton and Alex Zhitnik.
The other two doubles matches featured teams from Mitchell and Becker College. The second-seeded Mitchell team of Adam Samuels and Andrew Small upset Becker's Matt Graham and Josh Rasmussen by an 8-5 final in the third flight. The closest doubles match of the day came in the second flight, where top-ranked Tyler Engleberg and Alexander Fusco held on for an 8-6 victory against Tim Howard and Branden Parkhouse.
In singles action, the featured match in the first flight between Carmona and Newton was the last one to wrap up. Carmona won the first five games of the first set and won 6-2 to take the early advantage. The score was then tied 2-2 in the second set before Carmona broke Newton's serve and went on win 6-2, earning the third consecutive singles title of his career.
The match between Domingo and Small in the fifth flight was the only one that went to a deciding third set on the day. Domingo dropped the first set 3-6 but rallied back to post 6-3, 6-3 wins to earn his second straight singles title. It also marked the second straight year that Domingo had spoiled a Mitchell sweep of the championship.
Three other Mitchell players were also repeat title winners. Devona won his second singles title in as many years in a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Lesley's Nick Mattox. Engleberg also notched his second straight singles title by defeating Parkhouse 6-3, 7-5 in the third flight. Samuels earned his second career singles title with a win over Becker's Brian Piquette in the fourth flight. He captured the first set 6-2 and was leading 2-0 in the second when Piquette retired.
The only upset of the singles finals came in the sixth flight, where second-seeded Fusco upended top-seeded Rasmussen in straight sets (6-4, 6-2). The singles title was the first of Fusco's career.
Following the matches individual awards were handed out by NECC Commissioner Del Malloy and Mitchell Director of Athletics Maureen White. Both the Mariners and Lynx were also presented with a plaque for being co-champions of the conference during the regular season.
2011 New England Collegiate Conference Men's Tennis Championships
Hosted by Mitchell College, New London, Conn.
Saturday, April 30 and Sunday, May 1
Becker (BC), Lesley (LU), Mitchell (MC), Newbury (NC) and Wheelock (WC)
SUNDAY - FINALS
DOUBLES
Flight One:
19. #1 Doubles vs. #2 Doubles: Kyle Carmona/Rocco Devona (MC, 6-0) vs. David Newton/Alex Zhitnik (LU, 6-1) MC, 8-2
Flight Two:
20. #1 Doubles vs. #3 Doubles: Tyler Engleberg/Alex Fusco (MC, 6-0) vs. Tim Howard/Branden Parkhouse (BC 5-3) MC, 8-6
Flight Three:
21. #1 Doubles vs. #2 Doubles: Matt Graham/Josh Rasmussen (BC 5-1) vs. Adam Samuels/Andrew Small (MC 3-1) MC, 8-5
SINGLES
Flight One:
22. #1 Singles vs. #2 Singles: Kyle Carmona (MC, 6-0) vs. David Newton (LU, 6-2) MC, 6-2, 6-2
Flight Two:
23. #1 Singles vs. #2 Singles: Rocco Devona (MC, 5-0) vs. Nick Mattox (LU, 6-2) MC, 6-0, 6-1
Flight Three:
24. #1 Singles vs. #2 Singles: Tyler Engleberg (MC, 5-0) vs. Branden Parkhouse (BC 3-4) MC, 6-3, 7-5
Flight Four:
25. #1 Singles vs. #3 Singles: Adam Samuels (MC 5-0) vs. Brian Piquette (BC 4-3) MC, 6-2, 2-0 (ret.)
Flight Five:
26. #1 Singles vs. #2 Singles: Christian Domingo (LU, 5-0) vs. Andrew Small (MC 4-1) LU, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
Flight Six:
27. #1 Singles vs. #2 Singles: Josh Rasmussen (BC 4-0) vs. Alex Fusco (MC 3-1) MC, 6-4, 6-2
(Records shown are based on their play at that particular position)
*All seeding are based on amount of play at particular position during conference play with 50% rule followed.
