Men's Tennis Still Perfect In NE-10 Play; Sneaks By AIC, 5-4
LUDLOW, MA– The Merrimack men's tennis team stayed undefeated in conference action on Tuesday afternoon with a road victory over the American International Yellow Jackets by the score of 5-4. With the win, Merrimack improves to 6-4 overall and 4-0 in NE-10 action.
The Warriors have now won 14 straight NE-10 Conference matches after going a perfect 10-0 in league play last season for the first time in school history.
"I like how we came out quick in singles and won our first four matches," said head coach Sean Tully. "I thought that everyone put in a great effort top to bottom and hopefully we can build on this win moving forward in conference play."
The Warriors opened up the day with four straight wins from their no. 3 through no. 6 singles players. At no. 6 singles, Chris Toegemann (Narragansett, RI) dominated his match as he blanked his opponent 6-0 and 6-0. Chris Barnhart (Longmeadow, Mass.) and Petar Golijanin (Novi Sad, Serbia) won their matches by the same score of 6-0 and 6-2 to give the Warriors the early lead heading into doubles action. Sophomore Vince Bellino (Amesbury, Mass.) also picked up an easy victory in no. 4 singles by the score of 6-0 and 6-1.
Needing only one win out of three doubles matches, the senior duo of Toegemann and Golijanin came through in no. 3 doubles for the Warriors with a dominating 8-0 victory. The Warriors no. doubles pairing of Barnhart and Bellino fought hard but they could not pull out the two set victory, falling 9-8 (7-5).
The Warriors will return to the courts on Saturday, April 6 as they will travel to take on Southern New Hampshire at 3 p.m.
Singles:
1. Chris Schwab (AIC) def. Miguel Belfort (MC) 4-6, 7-6 (10-6)
2. Joe Zucchi (AIC) def. Matt Lipinski (MC) 7-5, 6-4
3. Chris Barnhart (MC) def. Kenzo Kqufman (AIC) 6-0, 6-2
4. Vince Bellino (MC) def. Jakub Simicek (AIC) 6-0, 6-1
5. Petar Golijanin (MC) def. Jason Popek (AIC) 6-0, 6-2
6. Chris Toegemann (MC) def. Chandler Long (AIC) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles:
1. Bik/Kqufman (AIC) def. Barnhart/Bellino (MC) 9-8 (7-5)
2. Schwob/Sinicos (AIC) def. Lipinski/Belfort (MC) Default
3. Golijanin/Toegemann (MC) def. Popek/Long (AIC) 8-0
