Three Men's Tennis Players Earn NECC Honorable Mention

ATTLEBORO, Mass. - Four of the five New England Collegiate Conference men's tennis programs were represented on the 2011 All-NECC  Men's Tennis Team and NECC major awards, announced today by Commissioner Del Malloy.

Mitchell College junior Kyle Carmona (Norwich, Conn.) received top honors, as he was named NECC Player of the Year.  Carmona, three-time Player of the Year, graduated from Norwich Free Academy. He is  majoring in Psychology.  Carmona finished regular season play with an unbeaten 6-0 singles record in the NECC and 6-0 in conference doubles action. He finished the year with a perfect 8-0 #1 singles record and an 8-0 #1 doubles record partnered with sophomore Rocco Devona (Waterford, Conn.).

The NECC Rookie of the Year honors went to freshman Paolo DiPietrantonio (Cambridge, Mass.) . The Lynx first year student-athlete is undeclared in a major.  DiPietrantonio finished regular season play with a 5-3 overall record and 4-2 in conference play at the #3 singles positions. In doubles play, he was 2-3 overall and 2-1 in the NECC at the #1/#3 doubles.

Mitchell College's  Rick Carmona was honored as NECC Coach of the Year. This is Carmona's third NECC Coach of the Year honor, winning the men's award in 2009 and the women's award in 2009.   The Mariners finished the season earning their third conference championship title, sharing the award this year with Lesley University.  The program went 10-2 overall  and 7-1 in the NECC for the 2011 campaign.

The NECC Team Sportsmanship Award was presented to the Wildcats of Wheelock College for the second straight year. The Wildcats are led by first year head coach Emilio Zamalloa. Wheelock finished fourth in the NECC with a 2-8 overall record and 2-6 in the NECC.

Voting for the All-NECC team and each of the major awards was conducted among NECC men's tennis coaches.

Joining Carmona and Devona on the first team for singles are fellow Mariner junior Tyler Engleberg (Niantic, Conn.), senior Adam Samuels (New Rochelle, N.Y.),  Lesley's junior David Newton (Hampden, Conn.), sophomore Alex Zhitnik (West Hartford, Conn.) and Wheelock's junior Wilson Chang (Lee, Mass.).

Three doubles teams were also chosen to the NECC first team. Mitchell's Carmona and Devona , Engleberg and junior Alex Fusco (Saugus, Mass.) and  Lesley's senior Christian Domingo  (Los Angeles, Calif.) and sophomore Nick Mattox (Pasadena, Md.).

Three student-athletes received honorable mention including Lesley's Mattox, Becker's freshman Brian Piquette (Agawam, Mass.) and Wheelock's junior Bobby Venning (Greenfield, N.H.).

The Becker tandem of sophomore Branden Parkhouse (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) and junior Tim Howard (Paxton, Mass.)  earned honorable mention for doubles play.