Men's Tennis Stumbles at UConn, 4-0
STORRS, Conn. – The Merrimack College men's tennis team returned to New England after a four-match swing in Florida, batting Division I UConn on Saturday afternoon in Storrs, Conn. The Huskies prevailed, 4-0, winning the doubles point before taking the first three singles matches of the day.
The Basics
Score: UConn 4, Merrimack 0
Records: Merrimack (3-7) | UConn (4-18)
Location: Storrs, Conn.
How It Happened
Playing under Division I scoring rules, the first team to two doubles victories took one overall doubles point. The Huskies won at first and second doubles, defeating the pairings of Mikhail Belov (Krasnoarmeyskoy, Russia)/Laurence Akwei (Johannesburg, South Africa) and Frank Vega (Lima, Peru)/Miguel Belfort (Caracas, Venezuela), respectively.
Leading 1-0 entering singles, the Huskies won at No. 4-6 singles to clinch the match. Akwei won seven games combined at fourth singles, but could not win a set (6-3, 6-4). Freshmen Alex Slobin (Fairfield, Conn.) and Tyler Clontz (Naples, Fla.) played at fifth and sixth, respectively.
Despite their matches not finishing, Belov and Vega each won their first singles set. At No. 1, Merrimack's Russian won, 6-4, while Vega prevailed in a back-and-forth opening set, 7-6. Junior Nick Majewski (Brewster, Mass.) was squared in his second set, 4-4, when the match ended.
Results
Doubles
1. Jacob Spreyer / Chris Toner (UCONN) def. Mikhail Belov / Laurence Akwei (MER) 6-3
2. Arnaud Valentin / Zac McEntee (UCONN) def. Frank Vega / Miguel Belfort (MER) 6-1
3. Justin Warren / Hank Hill (UCONN) vs. Nick Majewski / Tyler Clontz (MER) 5-3 (DNF)
Singles
1. Jacob Spreyer (UCONN) vs. Mikhail Belov (MER) 4-6, 5-2 (DNF)
2. Justin Warren (UCONN) vs. Nick Majewski (MER) 6-2, 4-4 (DNF)
3. Zac McEntee (UCONN) vs. Frank Vega (MER) 6-7, 1-1 (DNF)
4. Arnaud Valentin (UCONN) def. Laurence Akwei (MER) 6-3, 6-4
5. Hank Hill (UCONN) def. Alex Slobin (MER) 6-0, 6-1
6. Parker Goldstein (UCONN) def. Tyler Clontz (MER) 6-0, 6-0
Up Next
Merrimack returns to league play this week, hosting Assumption College at North Andover High School on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
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