Men's Tennis Edged Out By Florida Southern, 5-4
LAKELAND, FLA– The Merrimack men's tennis team was edged out by Florida Southern on Tuesday afternoon by the score of 5-4. With the loss, Merrimack falls to 4-4 overall and 3-0 in Northeast-10 Conference play.
In singles action the Warriors fared well as they won four of the six matches including in no. 1 singles as Miguel Belfort (Caracas, Venezuela) turned in a great performance beating his opponent by the score of 6-4 and 6-2. Chris Barnhart (Longmeadow, Mass.) continued his strong play for the Warriors as he dominated Robbie Palmitto by the score of 6-1 and 6-2. Both Vince Bellino (Amesbury, Mass.) and Chris Toegemann (Narragansett, RI) battled out three set victories for the Warriors in their singles matches. Bellino defeated Charles Garneau by the score of 6-4, 3-6 and 10-5 while Toegemann was victorious by the score of 7-5, 3-6 and 10-6.
Unfortunately, the Warriors could not pick up a point in doubles action as they lost all three matches. The top duo of Matt Lipinski (Arlington, Mass.) and Matt Pronesti (Mission Viejo, Calif.) put up a great fight but they were defeated by the score of 9-7. Bellino and Barnhart were also defeated by the same score of 9-7 in no. 2 doubles.
The Warriors will return to the courts on Wednesday night as they will travel to take on Florida Tech at 6 p.m.
Singles
1) Miguel Belfort (Merrimack) def. Emanuel Lueber(FSU) 6-4, 6-2
2) Benoit Paradis (FSU) def. Matt Pronesti (Merrimack) 6-0, 6-1
3) Vladimir Barabash (FSU) def. Matt Lipinski (Merrimack) 6-0, 6-2
4) Chris Barnhart (Merrimack): def. Robbie Palmitto (FSU) 6-1, 6-2
5) Vince Bellino (Merrimack) def. Charles Garneau (FSU) 6-4, 3-6, (10-5)
6) Chris Toegemann (Merrimack) def. Austin Comings (FSU) 7-5, 3-6, (10-6)
Doubles
1) Lueber/Paradis (FSU) def. Lipinski/Pronesti (Merrimack) 9-7
2) Leavitt/Barabash (FSU) def. Bellino/Barnhart (Merrimack) 9-7
3) Lundberg/Gutierrez (FSU) def. Toegemann/Belfort (Merrimack) 8-3
