NEWPORT, R.I. - After nearly four hours from the start of the dual match, freshman Aaron Isch [Tolland, Conn.] posted a straight-set victory at No. 5 singles to give host Salve Regina University men's tennis a 5-2 win in its The Commonwealth Coast Conference quarterfinal match with Endicott College.
Salve Regina (11-10), the No. 3 seed, prepared to host the dual match on its outdoor campus courts on Leroy Avenue at 3 p.m., but a late arrival by Endicott and increasing drizzle forced the teams to agree to a 9:30 p.m. start at the indoor courts at the Newport Casino. Both teams dined together at the Seahawks' on-campus cafeteria.
The Seahawks entered the quarterfinal meeting with a 13-0 mark all-time in the series with the Gulls, including a 7-2 win at Beverly, Mass., earlier this month. Senior captains Andrew Martin [Glastonbury, Conn.] and Steve Masso [No. 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 (9-9) 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.
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 regained his composure and began attacking which forced D'Ambra into errors. 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.
Isch avenged his only loss in the last seven matches, a three-set defeat to Oliver Joggi [Stoneham, Mass.] on April 15.
Salve Regina advances to play No. 2 Nichols College, a team which beat the Seahawks, 6-3, on April 5. The Seahawks have won seven straight matches since a four-match losing skid at the beginning of the month.
