Men's Tennis Sweeps Singles in 8-1 Win at St. Anselm
Links: Box Score
MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Merrimack College men's tennis squad went up to Manchester, N.H. for the second straight match and came away with another win, this time a 8-1 victory over Saint Anselm in Northeast-10 Conference action from the Carr Center.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 8 | Saint Anselm 1
Records: Merrimack (7-5, 6-0 NE-10) | Saint Anselm (1-7, 1-7 NE-10)
Location: Carr Center | Manchester, N.H.
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.
1) Merrimack 6-0
2) Adelphi 7-1
3) Stonehill 6-1
4) Bentley 4-2
5) Le Moyne 5-3
6) Assumption 2-2
7) Southern NH 3-5
8) Saint Michael's 1-5
9) Franklin Pierce 1-6
10) Saint Anselm 1-7
11) American Int'l 0-5
How It Happened
The Hawks entered the game with only one win on the season, while Merrimack was looking to increase its winning streak to five games. By taking eight of a possible nine points, the Warriors increased their regular-season NE-10 winning streak to 36 games after the victory.
Merrimack entered singles play with a 2-1 lead, after a loss at No. 3 doubles by sophomore Nick Majewski (Brewster, Mass.) and freshman Frank Vega (Lima, Peru) prevented a doubles sweep. At No. 1 Steven Francis (Perth, Australia) and freshman Mikhail Belov (Krasnoarmeyskoy, Russia), the NE-10 Co-Player of the Week, won by a score of 8-4. Captains Vince Bellino (Amesbury, Mass.) and Miguel Belfort (Caracas, Venezuela) prevailed at No. 2, 8-2.
During singles competion, the Warriors did not lose a single match. Francis came out on top at No. 1 after losing his previous contest, 6-2 and 6-0. Belfort used set victories of 6-2 and 6-2 to collect his second straight victory at No. 2.
Belov and Bellino improved their conference singles records to 6-0 with straight-set wins at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. Vega and Majewski, now 5-0 in league, also remain undefeated with single-set victories at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively.
Results
Doubles
1. Steven Francis/Mikhail Belov (MER) def. Adam Weinstein/Eric Howes (STA) 8-4
2. Vince Bellino/Miguel Belfort (MER) def. Brian Kavanagh/Kyle Harris (STA) 8-2
3. Robert Patenaude/Alex Pearson (STA) def. Frank Vega/Nick Majewski (MER) 8-5
Singles
1. Steven Francis (MER) def. Eric Howes (STA) 6-2, 6-0
2. Miguel Belfort (MER) def. Adam Weinstein (STA) 6-2, 6-2
3. Mikhail Belov (MER) def. Brian Kavanagh (STA) 6-3, 6-2
4. Vince Bellino (MER) def. Kyle Harris (STA) 6-3, 6-3
5. Frank Vega (MER) def. Alex Pearson (STA) 8-5
6. Nick Majewski (MER) def. Robert Patenaude (STA) 8-3
Up Next
The Warriors will host their first Division I opponent of the season as Boston University comes to the Northeast Tennis Center for a 12 p.m. start time in Middleton, Mass.
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