Men's College Tennis
Rider University 4, Wagner College 3
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.--The Rider University men's tennis team won a non-conference match at Wagner College on Monday afternoon.
"Rider and Wagner always play pretty close matches," said head coach Ed Torres. "They were pretty good and we were just a little bit better."
For Rider, junior Drew Laverty (Mount Royal/Kingsway Regional) won 6-3, 6-3 at third singles with freshman Stephen Brand (Forty Fort, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) earning a 6-0, 6-3 win at fourth singles.
Laverty and Brand teamed up for an 8-2 win at second doubles, their third win of the fall.
"They (Drew and Stephen) are playing very well, especially in doubles," said Torres. "They are a tough combination with Brand hitting for power and Laverty being extremely quick and tough at the net. They are doing well together and have been solid in singles play as well."
Also for the Broncs, junior John Spellman (Toms River/Toms River HS South) won 6-0, 6-2 at fifth singles and the doubles team of juniors Milo Milosovici (Florence) and Ryan Carpenter (Sahuarita, Ariz./Sahuarita) clinched the doubles point for Rider with an 8-6 win at the third slot.
"We won the doubles point and that was the key," Torres said. "We've been playing very well in doubles this season and it is much easier to have to split the six singles matches than rely on winning four of six to win a match."
Rider defeated Wagner 4-3 last spring after winning against the Seahawks 6-0 in the fall of 2010.
The Bronc women travel to Saint Peter's for a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference match Tuesday.
The Rider men host Mount St. Mary's on Saturday.
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