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For Immediate Release April 28, 2011 Contact: Ralph Ventre (ext. 7)

Sacred Heart's Kasyanov Takes Top NEC Men's Honor Again Pioneers' Gagliardi Tabbed Coach of Year, Bryant's Parziale Selected as Rookie of Year

Somerset, NJ - While he and the champion Pioneers await the NCAA Men’s Tennis Selection Show, Scared Heart senior Kirill Kasyanov (Yonkers, NY/Saddlebrook Prep) made it back-to-back NEC Player of the Year awards. Sacred Heart head coach Paul Gagliardi joined Kasyanov at the awards podium by capturing the NEC Coach of the Year honor for the second time in three seasons. Meanwhile, Bryant freshman Dana Parziale (Pinehurst, NC/Pinecrest), a driving force behind the Bulldogs’ perfect NEC regular season record (6-0), made program history by claiming the NEC Rookie of the Year award.

The league office made the major award announcements, which came in conjunction with the unveiling on the All-NEC First & Second Teams, 10 days after the Pioneers topped Nutmeg State rival Quinnipiac in the NEC title match at Mercer County Tennis Center in West Windsor, NJ.

Kasyanov will head to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years to cap off what has been arguably the most-illustrious individual campaign in the history of NEC Men’s Tennis. A four-year starter in the No. 1 slot, Kasyanov averaged 25 wins per season on the way to a 100-36 overall career singles record. Improving upon the 25-10 mark he posted as a junior, Kasyanov produced his best season yet. He won 30 of 36 singles contests during his senior campaign, including a 21-2 record in dual match play. The two-time NEC Player of the Year went 10-0 against conference opponents this season, with all decision coming in straight sets. Kasyanov, who has not lost to a NEC player since 2009, posted two wins over Bryant’s Juan-Martin Paredes and another pair over Quinnipiac’s Andrew Weeden. He rides a 21-match singles win streak into NCAA Championship bracket and last suffered a defeat on February 12 when he fell to all-ACC selection Akash Muppidi of Boston College.

Parziale headlined a trio of Bryant freshmen who comprised 50 percent of the Bulldogs’ starting lineup and combined for a 34-15 singles record in dual match play. The rookie from Moore County, North Carolina posted an 19-7 overall record, ranking fourth amongst NEC leaders in individual win percentage (.731). Mirroring his team’s record, Parziale went 15-6 in dual match play. He won 9 of 13 No. 3 singles contests and also posted a straight-sets win in his lone appearance at the No. 1 position by defeating Matt Wierzel as part of Bryant’s 7-0 team shutout of Holy Cross. Parziale won each of his first five matches against Northeast Conference competition, the last of which came against 2010 all-NEC singles selection James Kwei of Quinnipiac. Parziale’s bid for NEC perfection ended at the hands of Monmouth’s Harveer Bhalla who snuck past the freshman phenom in three sets. In addition to a 5-1 league mark, Parziale topped a number of formidable non-conference foes. He bounced back from his defeat to Bhalla by posting wins over Hofstra’s Ben Thompson- Star and Stony Brook’s Francesco Arciuli in back-to-back team triumphs for Bryant.

As his team rebounded from its loss in the 2010 Championship Final by reclaiming NEC supremacy, Gagliardi made his way back to the NEC Coach of the Year post. He guided the Pioneers’ veteran-laden lineup to an 8-2 conference record that was capped off with a perfect run through the 2011 NEC Tournament bracket. Sacred Heart’s lone two league losses came at the hand of Bryant, both coming in the form of 4-3 defeats. Starting with a triumph over conference rival Monmouth on March 26, Gagliardi’s Pioneers won 10 of their last 11 matches and head into the NCAA Tournament as a winner of seven straight contests. During that span, Sacred Heart posted 7-0 shutouts of Hartford (America East), Fordham (Atlantic-10), and Niagara (MAAC).

Kasyanov is the marquee name on the 2011 All-NEC First Team and has the company of Sacred Heart classmate Cole Conrad (Fairfield, CT/ Saddlebrook Prep). Conrad, who attended the same prep school as Kasyanov, garnered first team recognition at No. 6 singles.

Bryant players occupy two of the six singles slots on the top squad. Senior Cristian Balestrieri (Mar Del Plata, Argentina) garnered honors at the No. 2 flight, while freshman teammate Nolan Gelman (Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollow Hills) occupied the No. 5 position.

(NEC Men’s Tennis Postseason Release; 1-of-4)

Bryant University (2012-13) • Central State University • Fairleigh Dickinson University • • Mount St. Mary’s University • Robert Morris Unviersity • St. Francis (NY) College • Saint Francis (PA) University • The two members occupying the middle of the All-NEC First Team singles lineup hail from opposite ends of the NEC Garden State rivalry. Monmouth sophomore Harveer Bhalla (Buckinghamshire, England) played his way onto the First Team at No. 3 singles, while Fairleigh Dickinson sophomore Yuri Gricheno (Sao Paolo, Brazil) did the same at the No. 4 flight.

Balestrieri suffered an upset in his first NEC match of the 2010-11 season back in September. After dropping a third-set super tiebreaker to his St. Francis (NY) counterpart, Balestrieri won each of the five NEC matches left on the schedule. The Argentine went 15-5 in dual match competition, playing 13 of those contests at the No. 2 position. He stepped up the No. 1 singles slot on six occasions, winning four times. His straight-set No. 2 singles victory over Quinnipiac’s Andrew Weeden spurred a six-match season-ending win streak. Balestrieri occupied the top flight for the last four matches of his collegiate career and earned a win over Stony Brook’s Nikita Fomin as part of a 4-3 team triumph that capped Bryant’s road record at 10-3.

Bhalla has two all-NEC first team singles selections to show for his first two seasons of collegiate competition. After posting a 7-0 NEC record while mostly manning the No. 4 position as a freshman, Bhalla continued his undefeated run against league opponents as the Hawks’ No. 3 player this year. Bhalla went 16-8 overall in singles play, including a 5-0 showing in conference competition. The Briton, who won seven of his last nine decisions of the season, was responsible for dealing NEC Rookie of the Year Dana Parziale his lone league loss.

Gricheno posted 13 singles victories as a sophomore, a seven-match improvement from his overall record as a rookie. He went 4-3 overall at the No. 4 singles spot during dual match play and won all three of his NEC bouts. Gricheno twice beat his Quinnipiac counterpart with the second victory coming in the NEC Tournament semifinal round. His other NEC win came in a 4-3 team loss to league champion Sacred Heart. Playing third singles against the Pioneers, he downed Chris Ujkic in a come-from-behind three-set triumph.

Gelman won 13 of 17 matches during a remarkable rookie campaign, posting a perfect 6-0 showing against NEC opponents in the process. He eventually settled into the No. 5 singles slot where he went 7-1, but also had success when playing up in the No. 3 (1-0) and No. 4 (5-3) flights. Starting with a win over UConn’s Ryan Carr during Bryant’s Spring Break trip to Puerto Rico, Gelman went on a tear that lasted throughout the remainder of his rookie season. The two-time NEC Rookie of the Week won 10 of the season’s last 11 contests with the lone setback coming at the hands of Brown’s Charlie Posner. Gelman posted key victories on back-to-back days in April as he helped the Bulldogs notch team triumph over CAA member Hofstra (Apr. 9) and America East opponent Stony Brook (Apr. 10).

Conrad is one of five seniors who regularly take the court for Sacred Heart and will head into the NCAA Tournament as an all-NEC first team honoree at No. 6 singles. With his overall record standing at 7-13 following a setback to Fairfield on April 4, Conrad took his play to another level. He posted six consecutive victories, the last of which came against Quinnipiac’s Corey Morgenstern as part of the Pioneers’ NEC Championship triumph. His 14-13 overall mark includes a perfect 5-0 sample in No. 5 singles dual matches. Conrad won five of nine NEC matches with all four losses coming at the fifth flight or higher.

Both Gelman and Conrad also attained all-NEC first team status for their doubles play. Gelman and junior Juan Martin-Paredes (Quito, Ecuador) comprise the No. 1 doubles tandem on the All-NEC First Team. Conrad and his senior classmate Nick Mazzarese (Stonington, CT/Stonington) are the No. 3 pairing. The No. 2 first team doubles slot belongs to Quinnipiac junior James Kwei (Dedham, MA/Dedham) and sophomore Alex Lazerowich (Stratham, NH/Exeter).

Gelman and Paredes did not comprise the same doubles pairing for a great portion of the Bulldogs’ schedule, but when they did, they were quite a formidable foe. Bryant’s No. 1 duo won its lone two NEC contests, topping counterparts from a pair of perennial powers. Gelman and Paredes defeated Brian Mikkelson and Andrew Weeden, each of whom earned all-NEC recognition in 2010, as part of the Bulldogs’ 6-1 team victory over Quinnipiac. That win came two weeks after, they defeated Sacred Heart’s pairing of Kasyanov and Ujkic to help Bryant secure a 4-3 team triumph.

Kwei and Lazerowich contested 26 doubles matches together and won 18 of them. Hitting their stride during the stretch run, the Bobcats’ No. 2 tandem won nine of their last 10, including 7 in a row. They were 13-6 during dual match play, with two of the wins coming at the top flight. Kwei and Lazerowich capped off a perfect 7-0 NEC record by winning all three of their No. 2 bouts at the conference championship.

Mazzarese earned first team honors at No. 3 doubles in 2010, but was partnered with Kasyanov at the time. Playing seven matches with Conrad alongside him, Mazzarese continued to perform at a high level as evidenced by the duo’s 6-1 record. They were a perfect 4-0 in dual matches at the No. 3 spot with all decisions coming against conference opponents.

Parziale is one of three underclassmen to earn a spot in the All-NEC Second Team singles lineup. The other two youngsters hail from Quinnipiac. Second-year Bobcat Andrew Weeden (Martinsville, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) took second team honors at No. 1 singles, while his rookie teammate Corey Morgenstern (Old Bethpage, NY/Plainview-JFK) slid into the No. 6 position. Like its Merritt Parkway rival Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart placed a pair of singles players on the Second Team — senior Chris Ujkic (Mattituck, NY/Mattituck) at No. 2 and junior Chad Sullo (Orange, CT/Amity) at No. 5. Junior David Sherwood (Little Egg Harbor, NJ/Pinelands) doubled Monmouth all-NEC representation by earning second team accolades at No. 4 singles. (NEC Men’s Tennis Postseason Release; 2-of-4) Accounting for a “sophomore surge,” Weeden posted a 19-12 overall record that included a 10-5 mark in dual match play at the No. 1 position. After going 2-5 in NEC play as a rookie, Weeden went 4-3 against league foes this season with two of the three setbacks coming to NEC Player of the Year Kirill Kasyanov. Meanwhile, Morgenstern took over the second team spot that Quinnipiac’s then-senior Charlie Feldman occupied in 2010. Morgenstern, who posted a 13-12 overall mark, was 5-2 against NEC foes during his first season of collegiate competition. He had won three straight contests before falling to Cole Conrad in NEC Championship play.

Ujkic drastically improved upon the .428 win percentage he recorded in dual match play at No. 2 singles as a junior. In that same spot as a senior, Ujkic won 57.1 percent of the time. Overall, Ujkic was 15-13 for the NEC champions and carries a five-match win streak into Sacred Heart’s second NCAA Tournament appearance in three years. Sullo was also a key contributor to SHU’s title run, putting up gaudy numbers along the way. He went 18-7 overall including a 13-3 clip in dual matches at No. 5 singles. He went 8-1 in conference play with his lone loss coming to Gelman on February 26.

Sherwood was second on Monmouth in wins (12), behind only Bhalla. Helping the Hawks return to the NEC semifinal round yet again, Sherwood went 5-1 against league opponents. Much hotter than the balmy weather that hovered over Monmouth’s Jersey Shore-based campus for much of April, Sherwood closed the season by winning 9 of his last 10. He accounted for one of Monmouth’s two team points in its semifinal setback to Sacred Heart by beating Michael Syer.

In addition to their singles honors, Kasyanov and Sullo paired up to earn all-NEC second team honors at No. 1 doubles. The tandem won three of its four NEC matches. Ujkic and Sacred Heart senior Michael Syer (Oakville, Ontario/St. Ignatius) comprise the all-NEC second team No. 2 doubles pairing after winning five matches together including a pair at the conference championship tournament. Fairleigh Dickinson’s Andrew Denny (Bingley, England) and Peter Skvarka (Banska Bystrica, Slovakia) rounded out the 2011 all-NEC selections, garnering second team honors at No. 3 doubles after winning both conference matches they contested.

(NEC Men’s Tennis Postseason Release; 3-of-4) 2011 NEC Men’s Tennis Major Award Winners Player of the Year Name School Yr. Hometown/Highschool Kirill Kasyanov Sacred Heart Sr. Yonkers, NJ/Saddlebrook Prep

Rookie of the Year Name School Yr. Hometown/Highschool Dana Parziale Bryant Fr. Pinehurst, NC/Pinecrest

Coach of the Year Paul Gagliardi Sacred Heart

2011 NEC Men’s Tennis Singles All-Conference First Team

Flight Name School Yr. Hometown/Highschool 1 Kirill Kasyanov Sacred Heart Sr. Yonkers, NJ/Saddlebrook Prep 2 Cristian Balestrieri Bryant Sr. Mar Del Plata, Argentina/Mar del Plata Day School 3 Harveer Bhalla Monmouth So. Buckinghamshire, England/Dr. Challoner’s 4 Yuri Gricheno Fairleigh Dickinson So. Sao Paolo, Brazil/Colegio Amorim 5 Nolan Gelman Bryant Fr. Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollow Hills 6 Cole Conrad Sacred Heart Sr. Fairfield, CT/Saddlebrook Prep

2011 NEC Men’s Tennis Singles All-Conference Second Team

Flight Name School Yr. Hometown/Highschool 1 Andrew Weeden Quinnipiac So. Martinsville, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan 2 Chris Ujkic Sacred Heart Sr. Mattituck, NY/Mattituck 3 Dana Parziale Bryant Fr. Pinehurst, NC/Pinecrest 4 David Sherwood Monmouth Jr. Little Egg Harbor, NJ/Pinelands 5 Chad Sullo Sacred Heart Jr. Orange, CT/Amity 6 Corey Morgenstern Quinnipiac Fr. Old Bethpage, NY/Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK

2011 NEC Men’s Tennis Doubles All-Conference First Team

Flight Name School Yr. Hometown/Highschool 1 Juan-Martin Paredes Bryant Jr. Quito, Ecuador Nolan Gelman Bryant Fr. Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollow Hills 2 James Kwei Quinnipiac Jr. Dedham, MA/Dedham Alex Lazerowich Quinnipiac So. Stratham, NH/Exeter 3 Cole Conrad Sacred Heart Sr. Fairfield, CT/Saddlebrook Prep Nick Mazzarese Sacred Heart Sr. Stonington, CT/Stonington

2011 NEC Men’s Tennis Doubles All-Conference Second Team

Flight Name School Yr. Hometown/Highschool 1 Kirill Kasyanov Sacred Heart Sr. Yonkers, NJ/Saddlebrook Prep Chad Sullo Sacred Heart Jr. Orange, CT/Amity 2 Michael Syer Sacred Heart Sr. Oakville, Ontario/St. Ignatius of Loyola Chris Ujkic Sacred Heart Sr. Mattituck, NY/Mattituck 3 Andrew Denny Fairleigh Dickinson Jr. Bingley, England/Bradford Grammar Peter Skvarka Fairleigh Dickinson So. Banska Bystrica, Slovakia

(NEC Men’s Tennis Postseason Release; 4-of-4)