Men's Tennis Falls in Regular Season Finale

BOSTON, Mass. – The Roger Williams University men's tennis team finished Commonwealth Coast Conference play with a perfect 8-0 record and clinched the number one seed in the upcoming conference tournament as the Hawks swept Wentworth, 9-0, in the regular-season finale for both teams.

Sophomore Zach Bussiere (Colchester, Conn.) teamed with freshman Eric Laboissonniere (Cumberland, R.I.) to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead with an 8-0 win at number three doubles over Leopard freshmen Sean Murray (North Brookfield, Mass.) and Gaurav Tilva (Windsor, Conn.). Seniors Kevin Erikson (Tolland, Conn.) and Jason Pacino (North Reading, Mass.) took an 8-2 win at number one over freshman James Drum (Madison, Conn.) and senior Dave Filar (Wolcott, Conn.) before Sophomore Ryan Swanson (West Newbury, Mass.) and freshman Jonah Schwartz (Orange, Conn.) defeated junior Andy Chen (New Taipei City, Taiwan) and sophomore Dylan Melnik (Wake Forest, N.C.) at number two, 8-4.

Roger Williams dropped just four games in the six singles flights, including a pair of 6-0, 6-0 wins, as senior Jonathan Chandler (East Falmouth, Mass.) defeated freshman Josh Dowd (Bristol, Conn.) at number six and Laboissonniere defeated Murray at number four to clinch the match.

Erikson defeated Filar, 6-0, 6-1, at number two; Bussiere defeated Drum, 6-1, 6-0, at number one; junior Taylor Webster (Bristol, Conn.) defeated Chen, 6-1, 6-0, at number three; and sophomore Kyle Bull (Pleasantville, N.Y.) defeated Melnik, 6-0, 6-1, at number five.

With the win Roger Williams improves to 11-6 overall and finishes 8-0 in CCC play. The Hawks will host a CCC Semifinal on Wednesday, May 1. Wentworth falls to 6-7 (3-5) and finishes in sixth in the CCC. The Leopards, who will be making their third CCC Tournament appearance in the last four seasons, will travel to third-seeded Eastern Nazarene on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

Roger Williams 9, Wentworth 0

 Singles competition
1. Zack Bussiere (RWU) def. James Drum (WIT) 6-1, 6-0
2. Kevin Erikson (RWU) def. Dave Filar (WIT) 6-0, 6-1
3. Taylor Webster (RWU) def. Andy Chen (WIT) 6-1, 6-0
4. Eric Laboissonniere (RWU) def. Sean Murray (WIT) 6-0, 6-0
5. Kyle Bull (RWU) def. Dylan Melnik (WIT) 6-0, 6-1
6. Jonathan Chandler (RWU) def. Josh Dowd (WIT) 6-0, 6-0

 Doubles competition
1. Kevin Erikson/Jason Pacino (RWU) def. James Drum/Dave Filar (WIT) 8-2
2. Ryan Swanson/Jonah Schwartz (RWU) def. Andy Chen/Dylan Melnik (WIT) 8-4
3. Zack Bussiere/Eric Laboissonniere (RWU) def. Sean Murray/Gaurav Tilva (WIT) 8-0

Match Notes:
Roger Williams 11-6, 8-0 CCC
Wentworth 6-7, 3-5 CCC
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (4,6,2,1,3,5)
Official: Don Cortese  T-1:35  A-55