Men’s Tennis Bids for Third Consecutive NE10 Finals Appearance Thursday at Bentley

Matchup	Merrimack (16-8) at Bentley (15-7)
Date//Time	Thursday, May 2, 2019 // 2 p.m.
Venue	Spark Tennis Club // Andover, Mass.
Multimedia	Twitter // Instagram

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – On the heels of its dominant 4-0 win over Stonehill in the opening round of the Northeast-10 Conference Championship, the third-seeded Merrimack College men's tennis program turns its attention to the conference semifinals on Thursday afternoon when the Warriors visit second-seeded Bentley University with a berth in the NE10 Championship match on the line.

The contest is slated for a 2 p.m. start outdoors at Babson University's Tennis Courts in Babson Park, Mass. If weather forces that match indoors, it will be played at Cedardale Athletic Club in Andover, Mass. with a 2 p.m. start time.

Update (5/2): Via an announcement made by Bentley on Thursday morning, the semifinal contest has been moved indoors to the Spark Tennis Club in Andover, Mass., adjacent to the Cedardale Athletic Club. The semifinal contest will still begin at 2 p.m. 

2019 NE10 Championship Schedule
Tuesday, April 30^th (First Round)
Match 1:#3 Merrimack def. #6 Stonehill, 4-0
Match 2: #4 Le Moyne def. #5 Franklin Pierce, 4-1

Thursday, May 2nd (Semifinals)
Match 3: #3 Merrimack at #2 Bentley, 2:00 pm *
Match 4: #4 Le Moyne at #1 Southern New Hampshire, 2:00 pm *
*Please note that 2pm is listed time for outdoor play; should matches be moved inside due to inclement weather, times may change.

Saturday, May 4th (Championship ­ at Highest Remaining Seed)
Match 5: Match 3 Winner vs. Match 4 Winner ­ TBD at Higher Seed

Five Things to Know:

• Merrimack blanked Stonehill yesterday at the Northeast Tennis Center to reach the program's 12^th consecutive conference semifinal. The Warriors won at second and third doubles to secure the doubles point while victories at sixth, first and third singles guaranteed a Merrimack triumph. Freshman Andre Singer started Merrimack off strong in singles, winning in straight sets, as did junior Denis Davydov at the top flight. Classmate Alex Fedorov clinched the match with a three-set win at No. 3
• The NE10 also unveiled its all-conference teams on Tuesday, with the Warriors tying for the league high with six honorees. All three of Merrimack's doubles pairings landed on the all-league second team while the Warriors had four singles players recognized. Merrimack also led the league with four all-rookie team honorees, highlighting the talent in the Warriors' impressive freshmen class
• Merrimack's first doubles pairing of Davydov and freshman Conrad Koch shared the first doubles position on the all-league second team. The duo won six of seven conference matches together, and boast a 12-6 record at first doubles overall this season. Fedorov and freshman Jonathan Garcia led Merrimack with a 7-1 NE10 record at second doubles to secure all-league second team honors. The seven conference victories led all of Merrimack's pairings. The freshmen combination of Alec Mackay Rodriguez and Marshall Wood rounded out the doubles trios with the second-team spot at No. 3. They won six of eight matches together in NE10 play, and have totaled 11 wins overall at No. 3 this season
• In singles, Garcia and Koch headlined the group with second-team spots at second and fourth singles, respectively. A five-time NE10 Rookie of the Week selection, Garcia finished with a 6-2 mark in NE10 play at No. 2, including an impressive two-set win last week at second singles against SNHU's all-league first-teamer. He closed the regular season by winning six of his final eight singles matches. Koch won NE10 Rookie of the Week twice during the spring, and matched his classmate with a 6-2 NE10 singles record. He boasts seven total singles wins at No. 4, as well
• Two Warriors received all-conference third team spots at singles, as well. Fedorov landed on the third team at No. 3, his third straight season earning all-league honors in singles. He won seven of nine matches during league play at the third flight, and he entered the postseason tied for the team lead with 17 singles wins overall. Mackay Rodriguez joined him on the third team, representing the Warriors at fifth singles. The newcomer debuted with a 6-1 NE10 singles record, and has totaled 14 singles triumph this spring at the onset of the postseason
   

Inside the Matchup:

• Merrimack and Bentley will meet for the second time in nine days on Thursday after the Warriors edged the Falcons last Tuesday, 4-3
• Fedorov won his 100^th career match at third singles, which broke a 3-3 deadlock and gave Merrimack the victory. The third-year Warrior overcame an opening-set defeat to win his second set in a tiebreak before dominating the third set, 6-1
• Merrimack jumped on Bentley in the doubles portion of the match, winning all three flights by 6-2 margins. The squads then split the six singles matches, with Garcia and Mackay Rodriguez notching three-set triumphs at No. 2 and No. 5, respectively
• The matchup not only pits two of the NE10's top-three programs against each other, it also pits two regionally ranked foes against each other. Merrimack was ranked fifth in the most recent regional poll while the Falcons arrived at No. 6 in the rankings voted on by the NCAA Regional Advisory Committee

Up Next
With a win, Merrimack reaches its nine NE10 Final in school history on Saturday and face either top-seeded SNHU or fourth seeded Le Moyne.