Cambridge, Mass. - May 7, 2016 - The fourth-seeded Springfield College men's tennis team had its standout season come to a close after it was defeated by top-seeded MIT in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) semifinal match at the duPont Tennis Courts on Saturday afternoon. 

MIT, now 14-4 will advance to the NEWMAC Championship match tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m. against second-seeded Babson College, while Springfield sees it season come to a close with an overall record of 9-8.  It marked the first time since 2007 that Springfield won a quarterfinal match and advanced to the NEWMAC Semifinals as it posted the most wins in league play since 2008 under first-year head coach Chad Stoloff.

The Engineers took the early 3-0 lead after sweeping all three doubles matches. Freshman Alex Cauneac (Severna Park, Md.) and sophomore Bryan Lilley (Edmond, Okla.) topped sophomore Alex Romaine (Stamford, Conn.) and freshman Court Honda (Marioka, Japan), 8-4 at the No. 1 position.

No. 2 doubles team of freshman Sean Ko (Danville, Calif.) and senior Kevin Wang (Havertown, Pa.) defeated junior  Tanner DeVarennes (Lee, Mass.) and classmate Justin Danielewicz (Portland, Conn.), while the No. 3 pairing of freshman Tyler Barr (Auburn Township, Ohio) and junior Avi Walden (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) bested junior Kyle Beynor (Prospect, Conn.) and sophomore Cameron Grant (Babylon, N.Y.) earning duplicate 8-2 scores to take control of the match.

Needing only two singles points to secure the win and a spot in the NEWMAC Championship for the 18th consecutive season, senior Dennis Garcia (Corpus Christi, Texas) and senior Jeffrey Bu (Arcadia, Calif.) did just that at the No. 5 and No. 6 positions, respectively. Garcia took his match 6-1, 6-1 over Grant, while Bu bested sophomore Zack Keene (Feeding Hills, Mass.) for the 6-0, 6-0 victory.

All other singles matches remained unfinished as in the postseason the contests are played to decision.