Men's Tennis Locks Up NE10 Championship's Second Seed with 8-1 Win at Saint Anselm
Links: Box Score
MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Merrimack College men's tennis program secured a second consecutive second-place finish in the Northeast-10 Conference with an 8-1 win Saturday afternoon at Saint Anselm. The Warriors will face either the third-seeded Adelphi or the sixth-seeded Assumption in the NE10 Semifinals at home on Thursday at 2 p.m.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 8, Saint Anselm 1
Records: Merrimack (9-8, 7-2 NE10) | Saint Anselm (4-14, 1-8 NE10)
Location: Saint Anselm Tennis Courts | Manchester, N.H.
NE10 Championship Outlook
With the Warriors' victory on Saturday, Merrimack secured the second seed in next week's NE10 Championship. Merrimack will enjoy a first-round bye and play either the third or sixth seed in the semifinals on Thursday at home.
1. Southern New Hampshire - 9-0
2. Merrimack – 7-2
3. Adelphi – 7-2
4. Bentley – 5-4
5. Le Moyne – 5-4
6. Assumption – 4-5
7. Stonehill – 4-5
8. Franklin Pierce – 3-6
9. Saint Anselm – 1-8
10. Saint Michael's – 0-9
How It Happened (Doubles)
- No. 1 – Senior Nick Majewski (Brewster, Mass.) and junior Mikhail Belov (Krasnoarmeyskoy, Russia) concluded their regular season as a regionally ranked tandem with an 8-3 victory at the first flight
- No. 2 – Junior Frank Vega (Lima, Peru) and freshman Alex Fedorov (Guilderland, N.Y.) strung together a dominant outing at second doubles, needing only nine games to dispatch their opposition (8-1)
- No. 3 – Senior Tayyab Sheikh (Longmeadow, Mass.) and sophomore Alex Slobin (Fairfield, Conn.) played the closest match of the three, but still secured a comfortable 8-5 win to complete the doubles sweep
How It Happened (Singles)
- No. 1 – Vega started a run of four wins at the top-four flights with a straight-sets victory at first singles (6-3, 6-0)
- No. 2 – Belov needed only eight games to win his opener (6-2) before pitching a shutout in the second set to record the sweep, 6-0
- No. 3 – Majewski also played in the minimum, closing out his final regular season with a straight-sets victory at third singles (6-2, 6-4)
- No. 4 – Fedorov concluded his debut regular season with his eighth NE10 singles win of the spring with seven-game sets in each of his frames on Saturday (6-1, 6-1)
- No. 5 – Slobin dropped the only contest of the day for the Warriors, but did win his first set by a 6-1 win. The Hawks' Kyle Harris forced a third set with a 6-4 victory in the middle frame, and prevailed in a tightly contest final set, 11-9
- No. 6 – Sheikh also needed three sets, but emerged on the winning end with an 11-9 besting of Benji Page in the final frame of the day
Results
Doubles
1. Nick Majewski/Mikhail Belov (MER) def. Adam Weinstein/Daniel Kimetz (STA), 8-3
2. Frank Vega/Alex Fedorov (MER) def. Eric Howes/Kyle Harris (STA), 8-1
3. Alex Slobin/Tayyab Sheikh (MER) def. Brian Kavanagh /Brian Madden (STA), 8-5
Singles
1. Frank Vega (MER) def. Eric Howes (STA) 6-3, 6-0
2. Mikhail Belov (MER) def. Adam Weinstein (STA) 6-2, 6-0
3. Nick Majewski (MER) def. Daniel Kimetz (STA) 6-2, 6-4
4. Alex Fedorov (MER) def. Brian Kavanagh (STA) 6-1, 6-1
5. Kyle Harris (STA) def. Alex Slobin (MER) 1-6, 6-4, 11-9
6. Tayyab Sheikh (MER) def. Benji Page (STA) 7-5, 5-7, 11-9
Up Next
The Warriors advance to face either No. 3 Adelphi University or No. 6 Assumption in the NE10 Semifinals at home on Thursday afternoon.
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