Headed to the 'Ship! Men's Tennis Outlasts Gordon, 5-2

MILTON, Mass. – Trailing 2-1 after doubles play, the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's tennis team rolled off four straight singles wins and defeated Gordon, 5-2, in a Commonwealth Coast Conference semifinal. The top-seeded in Pod B Leopards (7-3) advance to their first-ever CCC title match and will play at Pod A's top seed Roger Williams (9-0), while the Fighting Scots see their season end with a 7-4 record. The date and time of the title match will be determined by the CCC office and institutional directors of athletics on Friday morning.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The teams split the first two points of the match, with Gordon winning at No. 3 doubles and Wentworth winning at No. 1. At No. 3, Fighting Scot sophomore Alex Ryzi (Littleton, Mass.) and senior Michael McEathron (Upton, Mass.) were 8-2 winners over Leopard seniors Harrison Maki (Rutland, Mass.) and Jarret North (Roanoke, Texas), while Wentworth freshman Daniel Gallegos (Monterey, Mexico) and junior Kevin Salomon (West Newton, Mass.) teamed up for an 8-5 win over Gordon senior Will Jeffreys (Parkton, Md.) and sophomore John Marineau (Auburn, N.H.).
• No. 2 doubles saw Leopard seniors Tyler Hall (Framingham, Mass.) and Tristan Maus (Mansfield, Mass.) battle back from a 5-2 deficit against sophomore Mark Noschese (Wayne, N.J.) and senior Richard Ryzi (Littleton, Mass.) to force a tiebreaker, however, Gordon took a 2-1 lead with an 8-7 (7-5) win.
• Wentworth tied the match at No. 3 singles as Salomon defeated Richard Ryzi, 6-3, 6-4, and took the lead, 3-2, when junior Sam Ferro (Whitman, Mass.) picked up a 6-1, 6-4 win over Alex Ryzi at No. 6.
• Maus' 6-3, 6-3 win over Noschese at No. 4 set the stage for Gallegos to clinch the match with his 6-3, 7-5 win at No. 1. In the second set, Gallegos trailed, 4-3.
• At No. 2 singles, Hall won the first set, 6-2, and dropped the second set, 4-6, before taking a 2-0 lead in the third set when the match was called. North lost the first set, 3-6, and was ahead in the second set, 4-3, at No. 5.

NOTES:

• While Wentworth is making its first-ever CCC conference championship appearance, the Leopards have two titles to their credit, coming in 1989 and 1990 under the team scoring format.
• The Leopards and Fighting Scots have played five times this season with the Black & Gold taking the season series, 3-2, with a combined score of 24-19. The first three matches were 5-4 final scores.

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