Posted: Apr 28, 2010
The Seahawks entered the quarterfinal meeting with a 13-0 mark all-time in the series with the Gulls, including a 7-2 win in Beverly, Mass. earlier this month. Senior captains Andrew Martin (Glastonbury, Conn.) and Steve Masso (North Scituate, R.I.) earned the first point with an 8-6 decision at first doubles. Zachary Rosenfeld (Easton, Conn.) and Chad Strong (San Diego, Calif.) took second doubles by an 8-4 score.
Endicott got on the board when \#Scott Kitchen\# (Norwell, Mass.) and \#Porter Williams\# (Norwalk, Conn.) rallied for a 9-8 (7-3 in the tiebreak) decision at third doubles.
The top three singles flights took the courts following doubles, and the teams split one and two in relatively one-sided scores. Masso gave Salve Regina a 3-1 lead with a 6-1, 6-1 victory at second singles. Shortly after that, senior \#Dan Murray\# (Coventry, R.I.) upended Martin, 6-2, 6-1, to pull within one again.
Chad Strong, undefeated in conference singles (10-0) during the regular season, dropped his first set and appeared to have no answer for Gulls junior \#Mike D'Ambra\# (Barrington, R.I.). Eventually, Strong took the next two sets by the same score (6-4, 6-4) and put Salve Regina within one point of its 10th straight conference semifinal.
Aaron Isch (Tolland, Conn.) avenged his only loss in the last seven matches, a three-set defeat to \#Olivier Joggi\# (Stoneham, Mass.) on April 15 to close out the match and defeat the Gulls.
Salve Regina advances to play No. 2 Nichols College, a team which beat the Seahawks, 6-3, on April 5th. The Seahawks have won seven straight matches since a four-match losing skid at the beginning of the month. Endicott finishes its 2010 campaign at 9-9 after appearing in the TCCC Tournament for the fourth-consecutive season.
Release courtesy of Salve Regina University Sports Information
