FDU Florham Comes From Behind to Win ECAC Men's Tennis Championship
In a match that took over 5 hours to complete, the FDU Florham Devils defeated the Johnson & Wales – Charlotte Wildcats, 4-2, to win the 2025 ECAC Division III Men’s Tennis Championship.
Johnson & Wales started off the match with a 1-0 lead thanks to their second and third doubles teams coming through with wins and giving the Wildcats the doubles point. Sam Ciccarello and Cayden Danzer put Johnson & Wales in the lead during the doubles session with a quick, 6-2, victory at third doubles, but Matthew Emery and Ronald Duval won a tight, 7-5, match at first doubles to even the score.
All eyes turned to second doubles where Johnson & Wales’ Hugo Cossais and Maxwell Frederick were locked in a close battle with FDU Florham’s Kelvin Liwag and Nick Weglinski. The second doubles match went to a tiebreaker with Cossais and Frederick prevailing, 7-3, to win the second doubles match, 7-6 (7-3) and give the Wildcats the doubles point for the early lead.
The singles matches got underway and the Devils needed little time to even the score at 1 match apiece after Duval made quick work of Cossais at second singles, winning 6-2, 6-3. Emery and John Billinis were in a closely contested battle at number one singles, with Billinis battling back to force a third set after losing the first set, 6-4. Emery came through in the end with a 7-5 third set victory to put FDU Florham up 2-1. But that lead was short-lived as the number three singles match, which also went to three sets, saw Frederick secure the point for Johnson & Wales, winning his match 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-2.
The final three matches were now out on the courts as this match looked to be going the distance. As the number four singles match was heading towards a third set, Chase Miller wrapped-up a 6-2, 6-4 straight-set victory for FDU Florham at the number five singles position, putting the Devils just one point away from victory. Weglinsky and Cicciarello were locked into a close contest at fourth singles, with Weglinsky fighting back from losing the opening set to force the third set and FDU Florham’s Jaden Andresen had taken the first set over Danzer, 6-4.
Johnson & Wales needed both points to win the championship, but a late break of serve helped Weglinski come through for the championship point, winning his match 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and giving the Devils the 4-2 win.