New London, Conn. — April 23, 2009 — The Coast Guard Academy men’s tennis team defeated Springfield College, 5-1, earlier this afternoon at the Academy’s tennis courts in a New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference Tournament Quarterfinal match. With the loss, Springfield’s tennis season is over.

Springfield finishes with an overall record of 5-9. The Pride finished 1-4 in the NEWMAC conference. SC also won a pair of exhibition matches versus Mayaguez and Rio Piedras, both by 7-2 scores, in Puerto Rico in March.

Today’s match was actually much closer than indicated. The 5-1 score was played so that as soon as the winning team reached the requisite five points, the match was halted.

For Springfield, the only official winner came at No. 3 doubles. The team of freshman Zach O’Leary (Westboro, Mass.) and sophomore Eric Henne (Bristol, Conn.) won by a score of 9-7. The other two doubles teams lost close ones — 9-8 at No. 1, and 8-6 at No. 2.

The official score from a singles standpoint was 3-0, Coast Guard. The Bears won at No. 1 (the clincher), No. 2, and No. 4. They were also leading at No. 3.

O’Leary was leading his match at No. 5 — 7-5, 4-2. And Henne was leading his match at No. 6 — 6-3, 4-4 — when the procedings ended. The clincher came at No. 1 with Coast Guard’s Greg Mitchell defeating senior Andrew Constant (Kingston, N.Y.), 6-3, 6-2.

Final Score: Coast Guard 5, Springfield 1

Doubles
1) Greg Mitchell/Chris Pappe (CGA) def. Andrew Constant/Bobby Schlink (SC), 9-8 (5)
2) Wesley Figaro/Nick Martin (CGA) def. Trevor Romanzi/Tim Tunis (SC), 8-6
3) Eric Henne/Zach O’Leary (SC) def. Tim Ozimek/James Vuckovic (CGA), 9-7

Singles
1) Mitchell (CGA) def. Constant (SC), 6-3, 6-2
2) Martin (CGA) def. Romanzi (SC), 6-0, 6-2
3) Pappe (CGA) was leading Schlink (SC), 7-5, 4-1
4) Vuckovic (CGA) def. Tunis (SC), 6-1, 6-1
5) O’Leary (SC) was leading Figaro (CGA), 7-5, 4-2
6) Henne (SC) was leading Ozimek (CGA), 6-3, 4-4

Records: Springfield 5-9; Coast Guard 8-9