Western New England Overwhelms Wentworth in CCC Action at Home, 8-1

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--Junior Peter LeFrancois was a double winner to help Western New England to an 8-1 victory over visiting Wentworth in Commonwealth Coast Conference men's tennis action at the Volvo Outdoor Courts on Tuesday. The Golden Bears have won three in a row to rise above .500 for the first time this season at 5-4, including a 2-0 mark in the CCC. The Leopards fall below the break-even mark at 2-3 overall and are 1-2 in the conference.

Junior co-captain PJ Nassar teamed up with LeFrancois to pick up a thrilling 9-7 win at No. 2 doubles versus Josh Dowd and Gaurav Tilva, helping the Golden Bears take a 2-1 advantage going into the singles competition.

LeFrancois also earned a 6-0, 6-1 No. 3 singles victory over Seng Ly to pick up his second point of the afternoon.

Sophomore Andres Otero rebounded after a tough 8-5 loss at No. 1 doubles with classmate Alexander Sause to earn a hard-fought No. 1 singles triumph against Matthew Smith. Otero dropped the first set, 6-3, but stormed back to take the second 6-1 and then the pro-set tiebreaker at 10-8.

"The positive energy and intensity today were evident from the first to last point of this match," Western New England coach Jennifer Kolins said. "(Our) No. 3 doubles played aggressive tennis and put the ball away early.Â We had very close doubles matches at 1 and 2, and long rallies in singles. We prevailed today because of the deliberate focus of consistent, smart tennis throughout the entire match."

Nate Schwartz and Smith picked up the Leopards' lone point with an 8-5 win at No. 1 doubles.

Western New England has a quick turnaround as it hosts Anna Maria at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in a non-conference match at the Volvo Outdoor Courts.

Singles competition

1. Andres Otero (WNE-M) def. Matthew Smith (WIT) 3-6, 6-1, 10-8

2. Alexander Sause (WNE-M) def. Nate Schwartz (WIT) 6-1, 6-1

3. Peter LeFrancois (WNE-M) def. Seng Ly (WIT) 6-0, 6-1

4. Tyler Unwin (WNE-M) def. Dylan Melnik (WIT) 6-3, 6-2

5. Adam Zimmerman (WNE-M) def. Josh Dowd (WIT) 6-2, 6-2

6. Andrew Schnier (WNE-M) def. Zach Peter (WIT) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles competition

1. Matthew Smith/Nate Schwartz (WIT) def. Andres Otero/Alexander Sause (WNE-M) 8-5

2. PJ Nassar/Peter LeFrancois (WNE-M) def. Josh Dowd/Gaurav Tilva (WIT) 9-7

3. John Mindek/GregTischofer (WNE-M) def. Dylan Melnik/Mike Withington (WIT) 8-1

Match Notes