#1 Men's Tennis Wins Third NE-10 Championship in Four Years, 5-4, over #2 Adelphi
Links: Box Score | Nick Majewski/Steven Francis Interview | Aaron Bergeron Interview
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The top-seeded Merrimack College men's tennis team needed to win four of six singles match to collect its third Northeast-10 Conference Championship in the last four years and did just that, as the Warriors beat No. 2 Adelphi University, 5-4, on Saturday afternoon to collect the tournament crown. Sophomore Steven Francis (Perth, Australia) handed Matteo Cannavera, the NE-10 Player of the Year, his first conference loss of the season at No. 1 to clinch the championship for Merrimack.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 5 | Adelphi 4
Records: Merrimack (13-6) | Adelphi (10-5)
Location: North Andover High School | North Andover, Mass.
NE-10 Championship
Tuesday, April 21 – First Round
Match 1: #3 Stonehill def. #6 Le Moyne, 5-1
Match 2: #4 Bentley def. #5 Assumption, 5-4
Thursday, April 23 – Semifinals
Match 3: #2 Adelphi def. #3 Stonehill, 5-1
Match 4:#1 Merrimack def. #4 Bentley, 5-1
Saturday, April 25 – Finals
Match 5: #1 Merrimack def. #2 Adelphi, 5-4
How It Happened
The Warriors met up with the Panthers for the second time this spring, with Merrimack coming away with a 6-3 win earlier this month down in Garden City, N.Y. The last time the Navy and Gold saw Adelphi in the postseason was in last year's semifinal, which Merrimack won, 5-1.
Merrimack led 2-1 after doubles in the regular-season match, but it was the Panthers who jumped ahead entering singles. The Warriors' No. 2 pairing of Vince Bellino (Amesbury, Mass.) and Miguel Belfort (Caracas, Venezuela) moved past their opponent quickly, winning 8-2. No. 3 concluded next with the Panthers pulling away, 8-6. The matchup at No. 1 went down to the wire, with the Panthers prevailing, 9-8, needing a tiebreaker to defeat Francis and Mikhail Belov (Krasnoarmeyskoy, Russia).
Singles play began with Merrimack knowing they needed to win four of six singles matches to collect the championship. Francis and Belfort jumped out quickly to one-set leads at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, winning 6-1 and 6-0. Freshman Frank Vega (Lima, Peru) also dispatched his opponent in the opening frame, 6-4.
The highlight for the Warriors in the early portions of singles came at No. 6, where sophomore Nick Majewski (Brewster, Mass.) trailed by three points, 5-2, one game away from dropping the first set. He embarked on a remarkable comeback, winning five consecutive games to win, 7-5, and go up a set on his opponent.
Belfort's match ended first, with the junior captain prevailing in two sets. No. 3-5 singles ended within minutes of each other, with Belov and Bellino losing at No. 3 and No. 4. Vega blanked his opponent in the second frame to win in straight sets at No. 5. At that point, Adelphi held a one-point lead, leaving Merrimack needing to win the final two matches to win the championship.
No. 6 ended first, as Majewski hit a beautiful lofting shot to go up 40-30 in the final game, before lacing a powerful stroke to put away Justin Vijungco. Francis trailed Matteo Cannavera, 6-5, in the second set, needing a break to extend the frame to a tiebreak. The sophomore kept his composure, securing the break point and then won in the tiebreak to clinch the championship for the Warriors.
Francis was named the NE-10 Championship's Most Outstanding Player, while also placing on the All-Tournament Team. Belfort and Vega also joined their sophomore teammate on the all-tournament squad.
Results
Doubles
1. Matteo Cannavera/Vlad Litvinchuk (ADE) def. Steven Francis/Mikhail Belov (MER) 9-8
2. Vince Bellino/Miguel Belfort (MER) def. Sander Brenner/Justin Vijungco (ADE) 8-2
3. Chiwete Njokanma/Sebastian Zapata (ADE) def. Frank Vega/Nick Majewski (MER) 8-6
Singles
1. Steven Francis (MER) def. Matteo Cannavera (ADE) 6-1, 7-6
2. Miguel Belfort (MER) def. Vlad Litvinchuk (ADE) 6-0, 6-2
3. Sander Brenner (ADE) def. Mikhail Belov (MER) 7-5, 6-1
4. Chiwete Njokanma (ADE) def. Vince Bellino (MER) 6-4, 6-4
5. Frank Vega (MER) def. Sebastian Zapata (ADE) 6-4, 6-1
6. Nick Majewski (MER) def. Justin Vijungco (ADE) 7-5, 6-4
Up Next
The NCAA Selection Show is Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m., streamed live at www.ncaa.com. The Warriors are currently ranked third in the East Region and will advance to their eighth straight NCAA Tournament.
--
For continuing coverage of Merrimack College Athletics, visit MerrimackAthletics.com and follow the Warriors on Twitter and on Facebook.
