Men's Tennis Locks Up Second-Place Finish with 8-1 Win vs. Assumption Friday
Links: Box Score
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's tennis team secured a second-place finish in the Northeast-10 Conference and will have a bye into the NE-10 Semifinals next week after the Warriors' 8-1 victory over Assumption College on Friday afternoon.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 8, Assumption 1
Records: Merrimack (9-8, 8-1 NE-10) | Assumption (5-8, 4-5 NE-10)
Location: North Andover High School | North Andover, Mass.
NE-10 Postseason Outlook:
The top-six teams advance to the NE-10 Championship, with the top-two finishers securing first-round byes until the semifinals. Merrimack clinched a second-place finish with its win over Assumption
1) Southern New Hampshire 10-0
2) Merrimack 8-1
3) Adelphi 7-2
4) Bentley 6-3
5) Le Moyne 5-4
6) Stonehill 5-4
7) Assumption 4-5
8) Saint Anselm 2-7
9) Franklin Pierce 2-7
10) Saint Michael's 1-8
11) American Int'l 0-9
How It Happened
The Warriors entered the day needing a win to clinch a bye into the semifinals of next week's NE-10 Championship. The match began outside at North Andover High School, but was moved to the Northeast Tennis Center in Middleton, Mass. due to rain.
Merrimack swept the doubles portion of the match. Senior Miguel Belfort (Caracas, Venezuela) and sophomore Frank Vega (Lima, Peru) trotted out at No. 1, defeating their opponents by an 8-4 score. Junior Nick Majewski (Brewster, Mass.) and freshman Tyler Clontz (Naples, Fla.) picked up an 8-3 victory at second doubles, while sophomore Mikhail Belov (Krasnoarmeyskoy, Russia) and junior Tayyab Sheikh (Longmeadow, Mass.) prevailed at No. 3, 8-3.
At singles, Belov matched up against the 17th-ranked singles player in the region, Chris Waung, and dispatched him in straight sets at No. 1. It took Vega a third set to triumph at third singles, while Belfort and Clontz combined to lose just two games at fourth and fifth singles, respectively.
Freshman Alex Slobin (Fairfield, Conn.) needed a tie-breaking third set to win No. 6, taking a 13-11 decision in the final frame.
Results
Doubles
1. Miguel Belfort / Frank Vega (MER) def. Chris Waung / Ryan Foster (ASM) 8-4
2. Nick Majewski / Tyler Clontz (MER) def. Reb Mariano / Marco Leung (ASM) 8-3
3. Mikhail Belov / Tayyab Sheikh (MER) def. Casey Hodor / Tom Knight (ASM) 8-3
Singles
1. Mikhail Belov (MER) def. Chris Waung (ASM) 7-6, 6-2
2. Ryan Foster (ASM) def. Nick Majewski (MER) 6-0, 0-6, 6-2
3. Frank Vega (MER) def. Marco Leung (ASM) 6-1, 3-6, 10-3
4. Miguel Belfort (MER) def. Reb Mariano (ASM) 6-0, 6-1
5. Tyler Clontz (MER) def. Casey Hodor (ASM) 6-1, 6-0
6. Alex Slobin (MER) def. Tom Knight (ASM) 3-6, 6-2, 13-11
Up Next
The Navy and Gold play in their regular-season finale tomorrow at home when the Warriors host Saint Anselm at North Andover High School at 12 p.m.
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