DUDLEY, Mass. – Sophomore Brandon Roode (Griswold, Conn.) has been named the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Men's Tennis Player of the Week and first-year Eduardo Irizarry (Lajas, Puerto Rico) was selected as the league's Men's Tennis Rookie of the Week following their match-clinching performances the week ending Sunday, May 5, 2013.
 
Roode, who earned his second CCC Player of the Week accolade of the season, delivered the championship point on Saturday as the Bison claimed back-to-back CCC titles and a repeat bid to the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship with a 5-1 victory over top-seeded Roger Williams. The sophomore teamed with Irizarry to blank their opponents 8-0 in doubles before Roode ended the match with a 6-2, 6-1 triumph at the second singles flight.
 
“I am extremely proud of our entire team for their performance this past week,” remarked head coach Paul Brower. “As a group we raised our level of play tremendously at the right time. Brandon deserves a lot of credit for his resiliency. He fought through a significant illness mid-season and was able to work his way back into form for the playoffs. His intensity this week was off the charts and he delivered a fantastic performance in both the semifinals and finals.”  
 
Irizarry, recipient of seven weekly laurels including four CCC Rookie of the Week nods, ended Wednesday's semifinal matchup versus Eastern Nazarene with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph in addition to teaming with Roode for the first point of the match in the doubles session. The duo raced out to an 8-2 win as the Bison swept doubles en route to a 5-0 victory against the fourth-seeded Lions.
 
“Eduardo was amazing overall,” commented Brower. “His play in doubles this week was nothing short of spectacular. Several times during the championship match he awed the entire crowd with shots that were simply unbelievable and was stellar during his singles match as well. Eduardo has really emerged over the course of the season and his play just continues to get better every day.”

The back-to-back Commonwealth Coast Conference Champions will learn their destination this evening when the 2013 NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championship field is revealed on NCAA.com.
 
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