Worcester, Mass. – Powered by a strong doubles game and excellent play during singles action, Clark University opened up its 2015 men's tennis season in style with a 9-0 win over Salve Regina on Monday afternoon at the Corash Tennis Courts.
The Cougars, who return all but two from a team that advanced to the NEWMAC semifinals a season ago, picked right up where they left off.
Dan Stein (Newton, Mass.) teamed up with Antoine Martin (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) to breeze past Jack Lawlor (York, Maine) and Donovan Gangwere (Exton, Pa.), 8-1 at No. 1.
That was followed by Spencer Pinkney (Falmouth, Mass.) and Lenny Siegel (Boca Raton, Fla.) making quick work of Matthew Carroll (Hackensack, N.J.) and Kevin Brocks (West Sand Lake, N.Y.) at No. 2 by the same score.
Scott Cabell (West Hartford, Conn.) and Jimmy Keogh (Worcester, Mass.) closed out doubles play with an 8-5 decision over Monaf Awwa (Old Lyme, Conn.) and Will Masse (Wyoming, R.I.) at No. 3.
Things went just as smoothly for the Scarlet and White in singles play beginning with Stein getting past Lawlor, 6-3, 6-1 and Martin easing by Gangwere at No. 2, 6-1, 6-0.
Pinkney had little trouble with Carroll (6-1, 6-0) at No. 3 and Zack Goodstein (Columbus, Ohio) rolled by Brocks (6-2, 6-0) at No. 4.
The match of the day was at No. 5 singles where Joel Simonson (Waterford, Conn.) got locked into a battle with Awwa. Simonson took the first set, 6-2, but Awwa answered with a 6-4 win in the second. In the end, however, Simonson outlasted Awwa in the third set tiebreaker, getting the hard fought 10-6 win.
Siegel completed singles action with his first career victory, topping Masse in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.
Clark will be back in action on Wednesday when they play host to Union College. The Seahawks, meanwhile, are off until a Friday, October 3 home contest against Division II Bentley University.
