ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Facing a 2-1 deficit at the conclusion of doubles action, the Merrimack College men's tennis program won four of six singles matches to rally and defeat Roberts Wesleyan, 5-4, in Rochester, N.Y. on Saturday afternoon. The Warriors improved to 3-2 on the year and 2-0 in regional play entering Sunday's Northeast-10 Conference opener at Le Moyne. The Redhawks were ranked No. 10 in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association East Region poll.

The Basics
Score: Merrimack 5, Roberts Wesleyan 4
Records: Merrimack (3-2) | Roberts Wesleyan (5-2)
Location: Rochester, N.Y.

Results
Doubles

1. Hugo Ball-Greene/Dennis Barlotta (RWU) def. Mikhail Belov/Denis Davydov (MERM) 8-5 2. Alex Fedorov/Frank Vega (MERM) def. Mathew Cruz/Dustin Eshleman (RWU) 8-3 3. Jose Carrillo/Guido Janssen def. Tyler Clontz/Paul Weidinger (MERM) 9-8 (5)

Singles

1. Mikhail Belov (MERM) def. Hugo Ball-Greene (RWU) 6-1, 6-4 2. Denis Davydov (MERM) def. Andrew Freeman (RWU) 6-0, 6-0 3. Guido Janssen (RWU) def Frank Vega (MERM) 7-5, 6-1 4. Alex Fedorov (MERM) def. Dennis Barlotta (RWU) 7-5, 6-2 5. Tyler Clontz (MERM) def. Harmeet Luthra 7-6 (6), 3-6, 10-7 6. Jose Carrillo (RWU) def. Paul Weidinger (MERM) 6-4, 6-3

Rapid Recap

• Merrrimack jumped out to a doubles lead when the pairing of junior Alex Fedorov and senior Frank Vega  prevailed at No. 2, 8-3
• The Redhawks' top pairing triumphed, 8-5, to even the score at one-all, with third doubles deciding who would have the advantage entering singles. The duo of junior Tyler Clontz and sophomore Paul Weidinger took their match to a tiebreaker, but Roberts Wesleyan edged out the Warriors to take a 2-1 lead to singles
• Sophomore Denis Davydov dominated to start singles, blanking his opponent at the second flight (6-0, 6-0). Senior Mikhail Belov followed with a two-set win at No. 1, 6-4 and 6-1, to give the Navy and Gold a 3-2 lead
• Fedorov won a two-set tilt at No. 4 to move the Warriors within one point of the match, which came down to Clontz at fifth singles. The junior won his opener in a breaker before rallying to prevail in three with a 10-7 third-set clincher delivering the victory for Merrimack

Up Next:
The Warriors open Northeast-10 Conference play tomorrow morning when the Navy and Gold take on Le Moyne College at 9 a.m. in Syracuse, N.Y.