Men's Tennis Clinches Postseason Berth with 9-0 Shutout of Franklin Pierce Tuesday
Links: Box Score
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's tennis team led the entire way in its Northeast-10 Conference match on Tuesday afternoon against Franklin Pierce, defeating the Ravens by a 9-0 score and locking up a berth in next week's NE-10 Championship with the victory.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 9, Franklin Pierce 0
Records: Merrimack (8-7, 7-0 NE-10) | Franklin Pierce (5-15, 2-7 NE-10)
Location: North Andover High School | North Andover, Mass.
NE-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. Merrimack's win against Franklin Pierce clinched a postseason berth for the Warriors.
1) Southern New Hampshire 9-0
2) Merrimack 7-0
3) Adelphi 7-2
4) Bentley 5-3
5) Stonehill 5-3
6) Le Moyne 5-4
7) Assumption 3-4
8) Saint Anselm 2-6
9) Franklin Pierce 2-7
10) Saint Michael's 1-8
11) American Int'l 0-8
How It Happened
Two of Merrimack's three doubles pairings played together for the first time on Tuesday. Sophomores Mikhail Belov (Krasnoarmeyskoy, Russia) and Frank Vega (Lima, Peru) paired at No. 1, winning by an 8-2 decision. Junior Tayyab Sheikh (Longmeadow, Mass.) and freshman Tyler Clontz (Naples, Fla.) debuted as a combination at third doubles, winning eight of their nine games played.
After playing together for the majority of the fall, captains Miguel Belfort (Caracas, Venezuela) and Nick Majewski (Brewster, Mass.) reunited at No. 2, winning by a 8-4 margin for their 11th victory as a pair this season.
Five of the six singles matches finished in straight sets, with Majewski needing a third set to win at No. 2. Clontz played at fifth singles for the first time in his career, improving his NE-10 singles record to 3-0. Fellow rookie Alex Slobin (Fairfield, Conn.) prevailed at No. 6 by blanking his opponent in the first set and winning by a 6-2 final in the second.
Belov, Vega and Belfort all won in two-set matches at first, third and fourth singles, respectively.
Results
Doubles
1. Mikhail Belov / Frank Vega (MER) def. Marcus Lawrence / Andrew Schadt (FPU) 8-2
2. Miguel Belfort / Nick Majewski (MER) def. James Bisazza / Olivier Viel (FPU) 8-4
3. Tayyab Sheikh / Tyler Clontz (MER) def. Joshua Singer / Dan Longtin (FPU) 8-1
Singles
1. Mikhail Belov (MER) def. James Bisazza (FPU) 6-2, 6-3
2. Nick Majewski (MER) def. Marcus Lawrence (FPU) 6-3, 4-6, 10-6
3. Frank Vega (MER) def. Andrew Schadt (FPU) 6-0, 6-0
4. Miguel Belfort (MER) def. Olivier Viel (FPU) 6-0, 6-1
5. Tyler Clontz (MER) def. Joshua Singer (FPU) 6-2, 6-2
6. Alex Slobin (MER) def. Dan Longtin (FPU) 6-0, 6-2
Up Next
Merrimack faces its toughest league test on Wednesday, when the Warriors travel to league-leading Southern New Hampshire at 3 p.m. A victory by the Penmen will lock up the regular-season crown and top seed in the conference tournament, while a Merrimack win puts the Warriors in position to claim their sixth consecutive conference title.
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