Stonehill Defeats Men’s Tennis, 7-2

Christopher Kirkpatrick swings his racket at a tennis ball.

Stonehill College

Endicott

Doubles

Thomas Bellio / Tom Buckley (STO)
def. Chris Kirkpatrick / Michael Dolph (EC)

9-8 (8-6)

Nikolay Lisichenok / Joan Castillo (STO)
def. Sean McAndrews / Nicholas Eherts (EC)

8-2

Dimitri Vlassov / Michael Doody (STO)
def. Eric Pierce / Keaton McCleary (EC)

9-7

Singles

Chris Kirkpatrick (EC)
def. Thomas Bellio (STO)

6-1, 6-4

Philip Klados (STO)
def. Eric Pierce (EC)

7-6 (7-5), 10-4

Michael Dolph (EC)
def. Nikolay Lisichenok (STO)

6-0, 2-6, 6-4

Joan Castillo (STO)
def. Sean McAndrews (EC)

6-2, 6-2

Tom Buckley (STO)
def. Nicholas Eherts (EC)

7-6 (7-3), 6-3

Jeffrey Gagnon (STO)
def. Sam Salvas (EC)

6-2, 6-3

full stats

Posted: Oct 06, 2015

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's tennis team fell to NCAA Division II Stonehill College by a 7-2 score on Tuesday evening at the South Campus Courts.

Stonehill, ranked ninth in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division II East Regional rankings, held a commanding 3-0 advantage after doubles concluded despite some hard-fought matches at No. 1 and No.3, respectively, between both squads.

Thomas Bellio (Saint Joseph, Mich.) and Tom Buckley (Hebron, Conn.) edged out Endicott's No. 1 pairing of Chris Kirkpatrick (Newburyport, Mass.) and Michael Dolph (Stratford, Conn.) by a 9-8 (8-6) score, while Dimitri Vlassov (Marblehead, Mass.) and Michael Doody (Franklin, Mass.) came away with a close 9-7 triumph against Eric Pierce (Barrington, R.I.) and Keaton McCleary (Newton, Conn.) at No. 3 to highlight the doubles portion of the match.

Kirkpatrick started off singles play for the Gulls with 6-1, 6-4 triumph over Bellio in the No. 1 position, before the Skyhawks went on to clinch the victory with back-to-back wins at the No. 6 and No. 5 slots, respectively. Jeffrey Gagnon (Providence, R.I.) defeated Sam Salvas (Stowe, Vt.), 6-2, 6-3, at No. 6 singles, while Buckley picked up a gritty 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 victory over Nicholas Eherts (New Milford, Conn.) at No. 5.

Dolph claimed Endicott's only other win in the match against Nikolay Lisichenok (Danvers, Mass.) by a 6-0, 2-6, 6-4 score at the No. 3 position.

TOP QUOTE

"I saw some great fight out there from the men today against a tough Division II squad in Stonehill," said Endicott men's tennis head coach Jeremy Howard. "I am looking forward to one more week of practice with the guys and a final fall match before they hit the offseason."

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

In the last five seasons, Stonehill holds a 3-0 record against Endicott as the Skyhawks have earned wins over the Gulls in 2015 (7-2), 2014 (9-0), and 2012 (8-1).
Dolph has not lost at the No. 3 singles position all season (3-0).
Kirkpatrick is also 3-0 at the No. 1 singles slot for the Gulls this year.
Dolph and Kirkpatrick suffered their first loss at the No. 1 doubles position in 2015 today.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (1-2) hosts Clark University in a non-conference match on Wednesday, October 14 at 3 p.m. Stonehill (3-0) does not return to action until it opens up its spring season in 2016.

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