Men's Tennis Drops 6-3 Decision at Hartford
HARTFORD, CT- The Merrimack men's tennis team suffered a 6-3 setback at Hartford Thursday afternoon. The Warriors fall to 11-7 overall while the Hawks escalate to 3-8 on the season.
"We battled hard today against a good opponent," said head coach Sean Tully. "Our doubles play was great as it has been all year. We have a very important match coming up and we will need to play to our strengths."
Merrimack won both doubles matches that were contested and defaulted on the third to boast a 2-1 lead.
The Warriors' top duo of Max Eppley (Malaga, Spain) and Sean Pahler (Rumson, NJ) coasted to an 8-1 victory. Petar Golijanin (Novi Sad, Serbia) and Chris Toegemann (Narragansett, RI) earned a 9-8 win at the No. 2 spot after prevailing in a tiebreaker 7-3.
Eppley claimed Merrimack's lone singles victory in the match with a 6-3, 6-3 win at the No. 1 slot.
Golijanin and Pahler each dropped three-set matches at the No. 2 and 4 positions, respectively. Vince Bellino (Amesbury, MA) suffered a 6-1, 6-1 loss at the third spot. Toegemann fell 6-2, 6-4 at the No. 5 slot and the Warriors defaulted at the sixth position.
Up next, Merrimack will host Southern NH April 7 in a Northeast-10 Conference clash. The Warriors and Penmen are tied atop the league standings with 7-0 marks along with Bentley.
RESULTS
Doubles
1. Eppley/Pahler (MER) def. Bhalla/Isaacson (HRT) 8-1
2. Golijanin/Toegemann (MER) def. Neves/Kennelly (HRT) 9-8 (3)
3. Hartford won by default
Singles
1. Eppley (MER) def. Neves (HRT) 6-3, 6-3
2. Bhalla (HRT) def. Golijanin (MER) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
3. Isaacson (HRT) def. Bellino (MER) 6-1, 6-1
4. Kennelly (HRT) def. Pahler (MER) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
5. Nedelca (HRT) def. Toegemann (MER) 6-2, 6-4
6. Hartford won by default
