Regis Rewind: Men’s Tennis Wins Historic Conference Title
WESTON, Mass. – On April 27, 2013, in a rematch of the previous year's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Tournament final, the Regis College men's tennis team defeated Mitchell College, 7-2, to claim the first team conference title for a Pride men's squad.
In September 2007, a significant change took place at Regis College, as it officially transitioned from an all-female school to a coed institution, including male students for the first time. As part of that change, male sports were added to the Regis varsity program, starting with men's basketball for the 2007-08 season.
In 2009-10, men's tennis joined the Regis athletic department, with John Ciarleglio tabbed as head coach. Ciarleglio posted a 105-71 (.597) record in nine seasons at the helm of the men's tennis team, earning his 100th career men's tennis victory against Penn State-Berks March 9, 2018.
After two seasons in the Commonwealth Coast Conference, the Pride moved into the NECC starting in the 2011-12 season. After losing at Mitchell April 3, 2012, Regis won its final seven NECC regular season matches in a row, starting a 54-match league regular season winning streak that would not stop until 2019. However, Regis would lose to the Mariners in the final of the NECC Tournament April 28, 2012.
Led in part by senior Matt Smolko and juniors Jeff Parrish and Andy White, the Pride entered the 2012-13 campaign ready to take the next step. White won 11 singles matches and teamed with Austin Nace for a perfect 11-0 doubles record, while Smolko and Sophorn Nop were also perfect in doubles at 9-0. Parrish and doubles partner Michael Beluch posted an 11-1 mark, with Beluch also leading the team with 13 singles victories.
A slow start did not deter the Pride, as they rattled off 10 straight wins to conclude the regular season. Regis defeated Becker in the NECC Tournament semifinal, 8-1, with Beluch and Nop clinching the victory by sweeping their singles matches without losing a single game. In the championship match, Nop rallied from losing the first set to win the tournament-clinching contest, earning NECC Tournament MVP honors in the process.
That would be the first of five straight conference titles for the men's tennis program, one of four Regis teams to accomplish that feat along with women's basketball, women's lacrosse, and women's tennis. Beluch would be one of the leaders of the team in both 2013-14 and 2014-15, finishing his Pride career with 55 career singles victories and 53 career doubles wins.
In 2013-14, Jarid Polley joined the Pride and made an immediate impact, leading the team with 15 singles wins and joining Beluch for a 13-4 doubles mark, including a perfect 9-0 record in conference play. As a junior, Polley set the Regis single season record for most singles victories, posting an 18-2 mark in 2015-16. Eventually, Polley passed Beluch for the school records in both career singles wins (57) and career doubles wins (57).
After graduating from Regis in 2014, White returned to the program as an assistant coach, helping the tennis teams complete their NECC tenure in 2016-17 with the fifth straight championship before transitioning into the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC). Ciarleglio retired after the 2017-18 season, and White took over as head coach of the Regis men's and women's tennis teams, just completing his second season in the position.