Alaimo Earns NE-10 Rookie of the Week Honors

North Andover, Mass., freshman honored for first time after strong weekend at Stonehill Invitational

EASTON, Mass. (October 11, 2011) – Stonehill College freshman Thomas Alaimo (North Andover, Mass./Central Catholic) has earned Northeast-10 Conference Rookie of the Week honors for men's tennis by the league office today. It marks the fourth-straight week a Stonehill freshman has received Rookie of the Week honors with Alaimo joining classmate Eric Ringstad (Fairbanks, Alaska/Monroe Catholic) who collected the award the previous three weeks.

Alaimo, who earns Rookie of the Week honors for the first time, reached two finals in singles and doubles play to lead the Skyhawks to a second place finish at the Stonehill Invitational over the weekend. He teamed up with sophomore Brett Armstrong (Manville, R.I./Mount Saint Charles Academy) to capture the doubles championship with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 victory over Jason Pacino and Taylor Webster from Roger Williams College. Alaimo posted a combined 5-1 record for the week, going 2-1 in singles play, while he and Armstrong won all three doubles matches.

In addition to winning the doubles championship, Alaimo also reached the No. 3 flight singles final before being edged by Nichols College senior Steve Carella, 6-4, 3-6, 10-7. Alaimo opened with an 8-3 win over Salve Regina University's Brian Castrichini on Saturday, before topping Bridgewater State University's Nicholas Desisto 6-0, 6-3 in the semifinal. He and Armstrong reached Sunday's final with a pair of wins on Saturday, first defeating Isiah Prosper and Paul Healy from Nichols, 8-6, in the quarterfinals and then topping UMass Dartmouth's Matt Bejtlich and Brian Lui in the semifinals.

Alaimo has posted a combined 10-3 record in singles and doubles play so far during his freshman season for Stonehill. He is 5-2 in singles play, including a 3-0 clip in NE-10 matches at No. 5 singles. He and Armstrong have posted a 5-1 doubles record, including a 2-0 mark in Conference play at No. 3.

Stonehill (3-0, 3-0 NE-10), ranked tenth in the ITA East Regional rankings, closes out its fall season tomorrow, when it hosts Clark University for a non-conference matchup at Charles Watt Tennis Courts at 4 p.m.