Many senior athletes were devastated that their senior season had been taken away from them. The NCAA announced seniors will be eligible to come back and play next year.
At Cabrini there are several athletes who have experienced this themselves. Their final year disappeared because of a virus. In the middle of the season everything was cut short. Two seniors on the tennis team, Matt DeMaria and CJ Lamantia, had to experience their senior day a little earlier than expected.
DeMaria’s and Lamantia’s last match came too soon on March 12 against Lebanon Valley College. The seniors and the rest of the Cavs were 2-4 overall during their season before everything got canceled. Both Demaria and Lamantia hope they both could have gone out with a bang for their final season. Nine matches were left to play for the two before it would all come to an end.
Finishing off 2-4, DeMaria said the Cavs have always been unbeatable in the conference. The senior spoke more about him and his team.
“It didn’t come lightly; we worked hard every practice, we grinded matches out and our outcomes were positive,” DeMaria said.
With hard work and determination positive outcomes always came out for DeMaria, Lamantia and the rest of the team.
For the past four years, DeMaria had won three straight conference titles and went to national tournaments. DeMaria had some words about his teammate Lamanita. “He has been a huge help to my tennis career at Cabrini,” DeMaria said.
Looking forward to winning the fourth straight conference title that is not possible anymore. Both Lamantia and DeMaria both spent their last time on the court. The two athletes had great chemistry between each other. Freshman and sophomore year they were roommates. The chemistry just wasn’t on the court but also off.
“We’re friendly out of the court, but we’re fierce competitors,” Lamantia said.
Lamantia may finish his career with the Cavs. However, the NCCA made senior eligible to play next year; and therefore Lamantia is thinking he might come back for a final season.
