Men's Tennis Captures Fifth Straight Northeast-10 Title with 9-0 Victory vs. AIC
Links: Box Score
NORTH ANDOVER, MASS. – The Merrimack College men's tennis team dispatched American International College, 9-0, on Friday afternoon to lock up the program's fifth straight Northeast-10 Conference regular-season title. The Warriors secured the top-overall seed in the upcoming NE-10 Championship and will host the tournament beginning with the semifinal round on Thursday.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 9 | AIC 0
Records: Merrimack (10-6, 9-0 NE-10) | AIC (0-10, 0-9 NE-10)
Location: North Andover High School | North Andover, Mass.
What They Said
Head coach Aaron Bergeron: "I'm very proud of how this team dealt with some early adversity and tough matches this year. It's nice to have home-court advantage, but we're not done yet. We still have a lot that we want to accomplish before the year is done and we need to turn our focus to improving each and every day.
Northeast-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. Regardless of the outcome of Merrimack's regular-season finale tomorrow at Bentley, the Warriors will finish first in the conference and host the conference tournament.
1) Merrimack 9-0
2) Adelphi 8-1
3) Stonehill 7-2
4) Bentley 6-2
5) Assumption 5-3
6) Le Moyne 5-3
7) Southern NH 4-5
8) Saint Anselm 2-7
9) Saint Michael's 1-8
10) Franklin Pierce 1-8
11) American Int'l 0-9
How It Happened
In a run that started back in 2011, the Warriors have now won each of the conference's regular-season titles since then. During that span, Merrimack has won two conference tournaments (2012, 2013) and is now in good shape to make the program's eighth straight NCAA Tournament. With the win over the Yellow Jackets, the Navy and Gold have now won 39 straight regular-season NE-10 games.
Merrimack entered the contest with victories at No. 3 doubles and No. 5-6 singles. The Warriors trotted out their top two doubles pairings in Steven Francis (Perth, Australia)/Mikhail Belov (Krasnoarmeyskoy, Russia) and Vince Bellino (Amersbury, Mass.)/Miguel Belfort (Caracas, Venezuela) at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. Both duos won by identical scores of 8-1.
During singles play, Francis and Bellino, normally at No. 1 and No. 4, did not participate. Belfort and Belov moved up one spot each, with Belfort taking No. 1 singles in two sets, 6-3 and 6-3. The Warriors Russian rookie made his appearance at No. 2, winning 6-0 and 6-0.
Freshman Frank Vega (Lima, Peru) made his first career appearance at No. 3 singles, while sophomore Nick Majewski (Brewster, Mass.) stepped in at No. 4. Both players did not lose a game in straight-set victories.
Results
Doubles
1. Steven Francis/Mikhail Belov (MER) def. James Worrall/ Tim Zoma (AIC) 8-1
2. Miguel Belfort/Vince Bellino (MER) def. Johno May/Jason Popek (AIC) 8-1
3. Nick Majewski/Frank Vega (MER) won by default
Singles
1. Miguel Belfort (MER) def. James Worrall (AIC) 6-3, 6-3
2. Mikhail Belov (MER) def. Tim Zoma (AIC) 6-0, 6-0
3. Frank Vega (MER) def. Jason Popek (AIC) 6-0, 6-0
4. Nick Majewski (MER) def. Johno May (AIC) 6-0, 6-0
5. Merrimack def. AIC by default
6. Merrimack def. AIC by default
Up Next
The Warriors conclude the regular season tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. against Bentley. Merrimack begins postseason play with the NE-10 Semifinals on Thursday, April 23.
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