BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's tennis team hosted Wentworth on Saturday afternoon for the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Quarterfinals. Entering the matchup the Gulls were the #3 seed while the Leopards were tabbed #6. Endicott won a straight three matches in singles play to secure the 5-1 victory. The Gulls will move on to the CCC Semifinals set for Wednesday, April 30th and will travel to #2 Roger Williams for a 3:30 p.m. start. Endicott improves to 9-7 while the Leopards fall to 4-8.
To start off in doubles play, junior Timothy Forance (Natick, Mass.) and partner, junior Eric Gandrup improved to 10-3 on the season in their 8-1 decision over their opponents in the #3 slot. In the #2 spot, junior Michael Lauretano (Winchester, Mass.) and freshman Sean McAndrews (Vineyard Haven, Mass.) defeated freshman Nate Schwartz (Chester Springs, Pa.) and sophomore Josh Dowd (Bristol, Conn.) 8-1. In the #1 spot senior Evan Ross (Worcester, Mass.) and junior Michael Dolph dropped a tight 8-4 loss to sophomore James Drum (Madison, Conn.) and freshman Matthew Smith (Pelham, N.H.).
The Blue and Green held a 2-1 lead over the Leopards entering singles play and needed just three more wins to secure a trip to the semifinals.
Finishing the first singles match was (#5) McAndrews as he topped freshman Zach Peter (Preston, Conn.) 6-2, 6-1. In the #4 slot, Lauretano defeated his counterpart, freshman Seng Ly (Lynn, Mass.) 6-0, 6-1 to give the Gulls a 4-1 lead. Needing just one more victory, junior (#6) Justin Warshavsky (East Hartford, Conn.) delivered taking his opponent, Dowd 6-0, 6-2 to secure the 5-1 victory and the team's fourth straight trip to the semifinals.
(#1) Ross (6-2, 5-1 unfinished), and (#3) Dolph (6-4, 4-1 unfinished) were both making headway to victories as well today while (#2) Forance and opponent Smith were battling on the court as Forance took the first set 6-2 and was down 2-4 (unfinished) when the Blue and Green clinched the match.
