Men’s Tennis Dropped by Queens, 4-0, in NCAA First Round

HOOKSETT, N.H. –  The No. 6 seed Merrimack College men's tennis program suffered a 4-0 defeat on Saturday afternoon against No. 3 seed Queens College in the opening round of the 2019 NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championship. The contest was played at the Penmen Stadium Tennis Courts on the campus of Southern New Hampshire.

The contest marked the team's 12^th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the second longest streak in the East Region, trailing only Queens. Merrimack finished the 2018-19 campaign with 17 wins, the second most victories in a single season in the program's history.

The Basics
Score: Queens 4, Merrimack 0
Records: Merrimack (17-10) | Queens (14-7)
Location: Hooksett, N.H.  | Penmen Stadium Tennis Courts

2019 NCAA DII East Region II Schedule
Saturday, May 11, 2019 (First Round)
Match 1:#6 Merrimack vs. #3 Queens (N.Y.), 1 p.m.

Sunday, May 12, 2019 (Second Round)
Match 2: #3 Queens (N.Y.) vs. #2 SNHU, 1 p.m.

Rapid Recap

• The doubles point came down to the second flight as the Warriors and Knights each split a match to start the day. Queens claimed first doubles, 6-0, but Merrimack's No. 3 pairing of freshman Alec Mackay Rodriguez and freshman Marshall Wood pulled out a 6-4 triumph to force the overall point to come down to No. 2. The combination of junior Alex Fedorov and freshman Jonathan Garcia brought the contest to a tiebreaker after splitting the first 12 games, but Queens won the breaker and took the match, 7-6 (5), to take a 1-0 lead
• Queens claimed matches at sixth, second and third singles to advance to the second round. Six singles finished first, 6-0 and 6-0, to give the East Coast Conference champions a 2-0 lead. Despite also finishing in straight sets, second and third singles were closely contested. Garcia dropped his opener at No. 2, 7-5, while also faltering in the second set by two games (6-4). Fedorov won three games in his first set at third singles, but saw his second set also go in favor of Queens, 6-4
• Junior Denis Davydov held a 5-4 lead at first singles in the second set when his match closed. Freshman Conrad Koch also battled at fourth singles, losing his opener in the 12^th game. He trailed by one, 6-5, when the match was clinched
• Merrimack's season ended with many notable moments, including six all-conference selections, the program's first-ever national ranking and a 40-win season for Fedorov, the most in a single year in school history.