Bellio & Buckley Lead Stonehill at ITA East Regional


Sophomore Tom Bellio reached the B-Singles third round and was a finalist in the B-Draw final with Tom Buckley.

Doubles team reaches B-doubles final, produce deep singles runs 

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (September 24, 2015) – Sophomores Tom Bellio (Saint Joseph, Michigan/Saint Joseph) and Tom Buckley (Hebron, Connecticut/RHAM) paced the Stonehill College men's tennis program as it competed at the United States Tennis Association (USTA)/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division II East Regional, hosted by University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, at Legacy Tennis Center.

Bellio and Buckley teamed up to reach the final of the B-Doubles bracket and each had respectable runs in singles play as well. The duo fell to Merrimack College's Tyler Clontz and Frank Vega in the B-Doubles final, 8-5. They produced four wins before reaching the final, opening with an 8-5 win over Post University's David Narovec and Alejandro Perez. Bellio and Buckley followed that up with a 9-8 (7-4) triumph against Kyle Harris and Brian Kavanagh from Saint Anselm College in second round before defeating Pedro Oranges and Alejandro Robles from Chestnut Hill, 8-0 in the quarterfinals. The Skyhawks team posted an 8-2 win over Jacobo Atri and Vincent Breer from Philadelphia University in the semifinals.

Bellio also advanced to the third round of the A-Singles Championship before retiring while trailing Franklin Pierce University's James Bisazza 7-6, 1-0. Bellio opened the tournament with a 6-4, 6-0 first round win against University of the Sciences' Borna Novak before defeating Concordia College's Maxton Cook 6-4, 6-7, 11-9 in the second round.

Buckley reached the third round of the B-Singles draw where he was defeated by Merrimack's Nick Majewski 6-2. Buckley posted an 8-2 win over Olivier Viel in the play-in round before eliminating Franklin Pierce's Andrew Schadt 8-3 in the first round. Buckley then came out on top of an all-Stonehill second round clash with classmate Jeff Gagnon (Providence, Rhode Island/The Wheeler School), 6-3. Gagnon defeated Saint Anselm College's Adam Weinstein 8-3 in the first round.

Sophomore Nikolay Lisichenok (Danvers, Massachusetts/Danvers) and freshman Dimitri Vlassov (Marblehead, Massachusetts/Marblehead) reached the B-Doubles Quarterfinals. They opened with an 8-1 first round win against Franklin Pierce's Viel and Schadt, before defeating a Daemen College combination in the second. They were defeated by Merrimack's Clontz and Vega in the quarterfinals, 8-3. 

Stonehill Results: 

A-Singles Bracket:

Tom Bellio

            Def. Borna Novak (USciences) 6-4, 6-0 – First Round

            Def. Maxton Cook (Concordia) 6-4, 6-7, 11-9 – Second Round

            Def. by James Bisazza (Franklin Pierce) 7-6, 1-0 (ret.) – Third Round 

B-Singles Bracket:

Tom Buckley

            Def. Olivier Viel (Franklin Pierce) 8-2 – play-in

            Def. Andrew Schadt (Franklin Pierce) 8-3 – First Round

            Def. Jeff Gagnon (Stonehill) 6-3 – Second Round

            Def. by Nick Majewski (Merrimack) 6-2 – Third Round 

Jeff Gagnon

            Def. Adam Weinstein (Saint Anselm) 8-3 – First Round

            Def. by Tom Buckley (Stonehill) 6-3 – Second Round 

Michael Doody

            Def. by Tyler Clontz (Merrimack) 8-1 – First Round

Philip Klados

            Def. by Juan Velosa (Philadelphia) 8-3 – First Round

Nikolay Lisichenok

            Def. by Vincent Breer (Philadelphia) 9-8 (7-4) – First Round 

Gerard Tierney

            Def. by Chandat Phan (USciences) 8-1 

Dimitri Vlassov

            Def. by Pierre Koehler (Chestnut Hill) 9-7 – First Round 

B-Doubles Bracket:

Bellio/Buckley

            Def. David Narovec/Alejandro Perez (Post) 8-5 – First Round

            Def. Kyle Harris/Brian Kavanagh (Saint Anselm) 9-8 (7-4) – Second Round

            Def. Pedro Oranges/Alejandro Robles (Chestnut Hill) 8-0 – Quarterfinals

            Def. Jacobo Atri/Vincent Breer (Philadelphia) 8-2 – Semifinals

            Def. by Tyler Clontz/Frank Vega (Merrimack) 8-5 - Final

Lisichenok/Vlassov

            Def. Andrew Schadt/Olivier Viel (Franklin Pierce) 8-1 – First Round

            Def. D. Gonzalez Villegas/Andrew LeMar (Daemen) 8-4 – Second Round

            Def. by Frank Vega/Tyler Clontz (Merrimack) 8-3 - Quarterfinals

Klados/Tierney

            Def. by Tajay McLeod/Tanner Kerr (USciences) 8-5 – First Round

Doody/Gagnon

            Def. by Vincent Breer/Jacobo Atri (Philadelphia) 8-5 – First Round 

Stonehill (1-0, 0-0 NE-10) has its Northeast-10 Conference opener at Franklin Pierce University on Thursday at 2 p.m. For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter and Facebook.