Tennis

News

2009

Bellino, Buckley Lead Lions Tennis Honors

Emerson College men's tennis players Allesandro Bellino (Berklee So., Brisbane, Australia, left) and Brant Buckley (Berklee Sr., Chester Springs, Pa., no photo available) lead the list of three players that have been named to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference All-Conference teams.  Bellino and Buckley were first team selections in both singles and doubles, and Bellino was also the Emerson honoree on the GNAC Sportsmanshhip team.

Despite battling injuries, Bellino compiled a 1-1 record in conference and dealt GNAC Player of the Year Peter Hooper of Norwich University his first collegiate singles loss ever.  Bellino teamed with Buckley in five doubles matches and went 4-1.  Bellino was also named to the GNAC Sportsmanship Team.

Buckley was a two time GNAC Rookie of the Week and was named GNAC Player of the Week on another occasion. After dropping his first four singles matches, Buckley won eight consecutive singles matches at the #` and #2 positions.  He was also 9-2 in doubles playing with three different partners.

Rounding out the Emerson selection was David Fein (Sr., Monroe, Conn., right).  Fein compiled a 7-3 singles record and was 9-2 in doubles.  His doubles record is all the more impressive due to the fact that he played with five different partners.

Buckley Earns third consecutive gnac weekly honor

Emerson College men's tennis player Brant Buckley (Berklee Sr., Chester Springs, Pa.) has been named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Player of the Week for his play the week ending April 19.  During the week Buckley stepped up to number 1 singles to replace the injured Allesandro Bellino and defeated both his opponents in leading Emerson to the GNAC regular season title and the top seed in the upcoming playoffs. Buckley also teamed with two different doubles partners to go a perfect 4-0 on the week.

LIONS SWEEP GNAC AWARDS FOR SECOND STRAIGHT WEEK

Brant Buckley (Berklee Sr, Chester Springs, Pa.) was named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Men's Tennis Rookie of the Week for the second consecutive week, and Emerson #1 player Allesandro Bellino (Berklee So., Brisbane, Australia, left) received his first GNAC Player of the Week Honor as Emerson College swept the GNAC weekly men's tennis awards for the second consecutive week.

Buckley won at both first and second singles and teamed with two different partners to take two victories at first doubles as Emerson continued unbeaten in GNAC play.

Bellino returned from an injury to help lead the Lions over Norwich by dealing the Cadets' Matt Hooper his first singles loss ever in intercollegiate competition by scores of 3-6, 6-4, 12-10.  Bellino also teamed with Buckley to take a 8-2 doubles point in the match.

Nourie, Buckley Honored by GNAC

Emerson College men's tennis players Michael Nourie (So., Philadelphia, Pa., left) and Brant Buckley (Berklee Sr., Chester Springs, Pa., photo not available) have each been honored for their play for the week ending April 5. In Emerson's only match of the week, a 9-0 shutout of Newbury College, Nourie was one point from perfection as he defeated his opponent at #3 singles 6-0, 6-1 and teamed to win his doubles match 8-0. His efforts earned him Player of the Week honors. Buckley was named the GNAC Rookie of the Week. In the same match against Newbury, Buckley defeated his #1 singles opponent 6-0, 6-0 and he teamed to win his doubles set 8-2.

2008

Bellino Honored for Play with Emerson Men’s Tennis

Allesandro Bellino (Berklee So., Brisbane, Australia) has been named to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Men’s Tennis All-Tournament team and the GNAC Sportsmanship team.  Bellino won his match 6-2, 6-4 at first singles in Emerson’s 2-5 loss to Suffolk University in the GNAC semi-final round. Bellino is also Emerson’s representative on the 2008 men’s tennis sportsmanship team. The team is comprised of one representative from each of the GNAC members that compete in men’s tennis.

2007

Aman Kapur Named GNAC  Player of the Year, Varun Kapur and Matt McKinney Also honored
Emerson College number one singles player Aman Kapur  (Jr., Lima, PERU) has been named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Tennis Player of the Year in balloting conducted by the conference head coaches.  Kapur had a perfect 7-0 record in singles during the year and was 6-1 in doubles play for the Lions. In singles play, only one of his matches went three sets, and he surrendered only 32 games all season while winning 88 for a winning percentage of .733.  This is the fourth consecutive year that Emerson has had the GNAC Player of the Year (Mike Huddleston 2004, 2005 & 2006).

Kapur's teammates Matt McKinney (So., Muncie, IN)  and Varun Kapur (Fr., Lima, Peru) were also named to the GNAC All-Conference team as second team picks.  McKinney had a 2-0 singles record and was 2-1 in doubles.  He teamed with Aman Kapur for half the season at first doubles.  Varun Kapur was Emerson's #2 singles player where he compiled a 5-2 record.  He was also 4-2 in doubles play in both the first and second doubles flights.

Aman Kapur Honored by GNAC
Emerson College number one singles and doubles player Aman Kapur (Jr., Lima, PERU) has been named the first Great Northeast Athletic Conference men's tennis Player of the Week for the 2007 season.  In Emerson's first two matches, Kapur won both his singles matches in straight sets, surrendering only seven games in the process.  He teamed with his brother Varun (Fr., Lima, PERU) to take two doubles matches including winning a tie breaker in the first match of the season against Wentworth Institute of Technology.

2006

Huddleston Receives Accolades for Classroom and Court, Warner also Honored

Emerson College tennis player Mike Huddleston (Sr., McLean, Vir.) has received honors for his accomplishments both on the court and in the classroom.  Huddleston was named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Player of the Year for the third consecutive season after leading the tennis team to its third straight GNAC title.  Huddleston was also honored as an ESPN: The Magazine Academic All-District second-team selection.  Huddleston, studies Writing, Literature and Publishing.  His overall collegiate singles record was 41-3 and he was 38-1 in doubles competition.

Emerson coach Keith Warner also received his third consecutive award from the GNAC.  Warner was named Coach of the Year to match the award he won in both 2004 and 2005.

Lions Cop Third Straight GNAC Title

Cambridge, MA - Regular season champion Emerson College continued its dominance of Great Northeast Athletic Conference men’s tennis by winning its third consecutive conference tournament title with a 5-4 victory over the Western New England College Golden Bears at MIT.

Emerson was paced by senior number 1 singles and doubles player Mike Huddleston (Sr., McLean, Vir.).  Huddleston set the tone of the match by defeating his Western New England College singles opponent 6-1, 6-1.  Huddleston and number two singles player Aman Kapur (So., Lima, PERU) recorded Emerson’s only doubles victory in the match by an 8-4 pro set score.  Kapur took a three set victory at number two singles by scores of 6-3, 6-7, 6-2. Emerson’s other wins were straight set victories at #4 singles by Ben Thompson (Berklee So., Boston, MA) and #5 singles by T.J. Czypruna (Jr., South Hadley, Mass.).

The Lions were undefeated in regular season conference play for the third year in a row and defeated Johnson & Wales in the tournament semifinals. Their conference record during this run is 15-0.

2005

Emerson Sweeps 2005 GNAC Men's Tennis Awards

Great Northeast Athletic Conference Conference champion Emerson College captured all three “Year” awards with the selection of Michael Huddleston (Junior, McLean, VA) as Player of the Year, Aman Kapur (Freshman, Lima, Peru) as Rookie of the Year, and Keith Warner as Coach of the Year. It is the second consecutive selection for both Huddleston and Warner.

The Lions were undefeated in regular season conference play, and defeated Western New England College in the tournament semifinals and Johnson & Wales University in the finals by a combined scored of 16-2 to capture their second straight championship. Emerson’s conference record during this run was 10-0, and during the 2005 season they compiled a 44-1 record in head to head play.

Lions Cop Second Straight GNAC Title, Huddleston & Boyer-Masutti Named Players of the Week

For the second consecutive year the Emerson College Lions roared through the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Tournament, taking the conference title with a 7-2 decision over Johnson & Wales University. The win over J & W followed a 9-0 whitewashing of Western New England College in the semi-final round.

The victory gave Emerson an 11-1 record in 2005. The Lions have compiled a 20-1 record over the past two seasons.

Junior Mike Huddleston was named GNAC Player of the Week for the second time in 2005 while teammate Oliver Boyer-Masutti was the Rookie of the Week selection for the second time as well.

Warner Gets Gatorade Bath as Lions Roar to Second Consecutive GNAC Title

BOSTON, MA – They play at the Boston Athletic Center over in South Boston.  They played in relative anonymity, primarily in front of only family members and very good friends.  And over the past two seasons, they have been the cream of the crop of Emerson athletics.

“They” are the Emerson men’s tennis team...a team that has lost only one match in over two years and earned a 17 match winning streak.  Emerson men’s tennis is the Great Northeast Athletic Conference champion for 2004 and 2005.  Only a 4-5 loss to Springfield College on a day when the team was without several of its regular performers due to academic conflicts has blemished two otherwise perfect seasons.   In 2005 the Lions dropped only one point all year long in GNAC regular season competition, outscoring their GNAC bretheren 44-1.  In the Semifinals of the 2005 championship tournament the team dropped arch-rival Western New England College by a 9-0 count, and then took the title with a 7-2 victory over Johnson &  Wales University

Coach Keith Warner has assembled a tennis powerhouse at Emerson.  The last time the Lions lost a conference match was the GNAC Tournament finals in 2003.  Warner can easily explain the team’s success.

“Depth”, he says.  “We’re so deep throughout the lineup that no team on the GNAC schedule can compete with us.  I have three players that could be playing number one singles.  There’s very little difference in their skill level.”

The Lions’ current number one player is Mike Huddleston.  Huddleston, a junior from McLean, Virginia, was the GNAC Player of the Year last year as a sophomore.  Huddleston has lost only three matches in three years and in 2005 was been named the Emerson College Male Student-Athlete of the Year.

“Mike is so dedicated,” Warner says, “and his work ethic has permeated the entire team.  I wanted to give them a day off last season, and they begged me to let them practice.  When you combine the talent this group has with their desire to be as good as they can be, you have a winning formula.”

Both Huddleston and fourth singles player Samer Khuri have been selected GNAC Player of the Week this season.  Freshman Oliver Boyer-Masutti currently plays at third singles, and like Khuri is unbeaten.  Boyer-Masutti was the GNAC Rookie of the Week for the weeks ending April 24 and May 1.

Boyer-Masutti is emblematic of another pillar of the program: he is a student at Berklee College of Music.  The National Collegiate Athletic Association has granted Emerson permission to allow students from Berklee and Massachusetts College of Art to participate on Lion athletic teams.

“Having the Berklee kids has helped a lot,” Warner says.  “There are some good athletes over there.”

Warner knows what type of players will succeed at Emerson.

“I want guys who have played tournament tennis,” he says.  “That means they are not only experienced, but experienced under pressure.  You mature as a player by competing in tournaments.”

Other than the loss to Springfield, which Warner described as being, “like playing a baseball game without an outfield”, the team’s closest match this spring has been the first match against Wentworth.  Emerson prevailed in a match that had to be completed eight days after it began due to facility issues. Included in that match was Huddleston’s third career loss and it came in a tie-breaker. 

“Everybody looks to Mike to set the standard,” Warner says.  “The rest of the team was shocked when he lost.  But unlike other years, losing at number one seemed to motivate the team rather than deflating it.”

The only other team to take a regular season point from the Lions is Conference rival Western  New England College.  Emerson defeated the Golden Bears for last year’s GNAC title, after losing to WNEC in the championship match the year before.  That loss is the last one in conference play the Lions have experienced.

Warner notes that collegiate tennis is an individual sport that has a team outcome.

“These guys really pull for each other,” he says.  “They have become a very close group.  They do a lot of things together off the court, and they are great teammates on the court. There’s a camaraderie with this team that I don’t think I’ve seen in the other teams I’ve had here.

Looking ahead, Warner sees continued success for the program.

“We lose only two players from our top nine,” the 2004 GNAC Coach of the Year says.  “Samer (#4 singles) and Dave (Lewis, #5 singles) will graduate.  But the interest in the program has been so intense we have people waiting to step into those spots.  For the first time this year I carried a ‘development’ squad of players who wanted to practice with the team while realizing they would very likely not get to play in any matches.  It has made us just that much stronger.”

That’s not the message the rest of GNAC wants to hear.

Boyer-Masutti Earns GNAC Rookie Honor

Oliver Boyer-Masutti, the number 3 singles and a number one doubles player for Emerson College men's tennis has been named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week for the week ending April 23. Boyer-Masutti won both of his singles and both of his doubles matches during the week. The first year student from Montreal, Quebec is undefeated in both singles and doubles this season.

GNAC Selects Huddleston as Player of the Week

Junior Mike Huddleston, Emerson College's number one singles and number one doubles tennis player has been selected the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Player of the Week for the week ending April 17. Huddleston was 3-0 in singles and duplicated that record in doubles in leading the undefeated men's tennis team to it's 16th consecutive victory spanning the past two years.

Khuri named GNAC Player of the Week

The Great Northeast Athletic Conference has selected Emerson College senior Samer Khuri as its tennis Player of the Week for the week ending April 2. In a 6-3 defeat of Wentworth Institute of Technology in Emerson's only match of the week, Khuri had a part in scoring a third of Emerson's points in the match as he rolled through his matches at second singles and first doubles. After dropping a singles set 5-7, Khuri rallied to take the next two sets 6-1, 6-1. He paired with teammate Mike Huddleston to take the first doubles by an 8-5 count.