Regionally-Ranked Matchup Pits Men's Tennis Against NYIT Friday in Spring Opener (9:30 p.m.)
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's tennis team matches up with regional power NYIT to open up the spring campaign on Friday night at 9:30 p.m. from the Northeast Tennis Center. The Warriors enter their championship season as the two-time defending Northeast-10 Conference Champions and victors of the regular-season title in four consecutive years.
The Basics
Date/Time: 2/26 | 9:30 p.m.
Records: Merrimack (2-0, 1-0 NE-10) | NYIT (3-0, 0-0 ECC)
Location: Middleton, Mass. | Northeast Tennis Center
The Fall Campaign:
The Warriors competed in three tournaments and two head-to-head matches in the fall, hosting the Merrimack Doubles Invitational and travelling to the ITA East Regionals and the UConn Invitational in September before taking on Roberts Wesleyan and Le Moyne in October.
Captains Miguel Belfort (Caracas, Venezuela) and Nick Majewski (Brewster, Mass.) won the Blue Draw of the Doubles Invite, while sophomore Frank Vega (Lima, Peru) and freshman Tyler Clontz (Naples, Fla.) won a doubles bracket in Storrs to headline tournament play.
Merrimack defeated Roberts Wesleyan, 6-3, and Le Moyne by a 7-2 final to pick up its first conference victory. Sophomore Mikhail Belov (Krasnoarmeyskoy, Russia) went both of his singles matches, while freshman Alex Slobin (Fairfield, Conn.) won his first-ever NE-10 singles match at No. 6 against the Dolphins.
After sitting out the fall semester, redshirt-freshman Laurence Akwei (Johannesburg, South Africa) is set to debut for the Warriors this spring.
Last Season vs. NYIT:
The Warriors took on the Bears on two occasions, losing in the regular season before falling in the NCAA Tournament, 5-1, to end the 2014-15 campaign.
Merrimack enters the spring as the fourth-ranked team in the East Region, while NYIT clocks in at No. 2. Concordia sits atop the rankings at No. 1.
The Bears:
- NYIT has played in two matches this month, defeating Youngstown State and NE-10-foe Adelphi in its most recent contest
- Outside of first doubles, the Bear swept their contest with the Panthers. Rafal Charkiewicz won by an 8-2 margin at second doubles playing with Rares Ispas before winning at second singles
- Alexandrew Martinez and Jamie Salvador also went undefeated on the day, winning at third doubles and at fifth and sixth singles, respectively
Up Next
The Navy and Gold play in their first conference game of the spring up Sunday up in Colchester, Vt. against Saint Michael's at 1:00 p.m.
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