Suffolk Men's Tennis Capture Fourth GNAC Title

The Suffolk University Men's Tennis team captured their fourth consecutive Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) championship with a 7-2 victory over the Emerson College Lions on Saturday evening.

With the victory the Rams finish the 2012 season with a 13-1 record. In their four-year run Suffolk has now put together a 45-5 overall record since the 2009 season.

Senior Chris Staley (London, England) earned Tournament Most Valuable Player honors. Staley was a part of two wins for the Rams on Saturday as he took down his singles match, 7-5, 6-0 and partnered with freshman Marc Winkler (Caracas, Venezuela) for an 8-6 doubles victory.

Staley finishes the season with an 8-2 record in singles play, while he and Winkler combined for a 6-2 record in the doubles circuit. Saturday's match was the final career match for Staley at Suffolk. He wraps up a four-year career at Suffolk that saw him win a total of 68 matches for Suffolk between singles and doubles play. His 39 doubles victories are the most by a Suffolk player over the last decade.

In other action on Saturday, the Rams took four of their five remaining singles matches.

Winkler took the top match with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over the Lions' Brent Walkoff (Bolton, Mass.).

Sophomore Drew Reilly (Boston, Mass.) swept the number four singles game with a 6-1, 6-4 victory, while senior Harlan Strader (Marblehead, Mass.) and Albert Buruga (Bradenton, Fla.) took the number five and six games. Buruga won in consecutive 6-0 sets for the second time in the GNAC Tournament.

Junior Mitch Lance (Tarrytown, N.Y.) was the lone Emerson College player to win a singles match on Saturday evening as he was a 6-4, 7-5 victor in the third game over sophomore Aaron Lau (Hong Kong, China).

In doubles play, Lau and Reilly combined for an 8-0 victory.

The combination of Brent Walkoff and Zack Connolly halted Suffolk's Albert Buruga and Harlan Strader in the number two doubles game with a 9-7 come from behind victory.

Saturday's championship was the fourth straight year that the two teams have met to decide the league title.