| Matchup |
Merrimack (17-8) at
#50 Southern New Hampshire (15-3) |
| Date//Time |
Saturday, May 4, 2019 // 12 p.m. |
| Venue |
Penmen Stadium Tennis Courts // Manchester, N.H. |
| Multimedia |
Twitter // Instagram |
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – With two 4-0 victories in the Northeast-10 Conference First Round and Semifinals, the red-hot Merrimack College men's tennis program returns to the NE10 Championship match for the third straight season on Saturday when the Warriors will face No. 50 Southern New Hampshire for the third time in as many years to fight for the tournament crown.
The third-seeded Warriors meet the top-seeded Penmen in a 12 p.m. match on SNHU's campus at the Penmen Stadium Tennis Courts. If the contest is moved indoors due to weather conditions, the match will be played at the YMCA Goffstown Allard Center beginning at 5 p.m.
2019 NE10 Championship Schedule
Tuesday, April 30th (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 def. #2 Bentley, 4-0
Match 4: #1 Southern New Hampshire def. #4 Le Moyne, 4-2
Saturday, May 4th (Championship at Highest Remaining Seed)
Match 5: #3 Merrimack at #1 Southern New Hampshire, 12:00 p.m.
Five Things to Know:
- Merrimack is within striking distance of its first NE10 Championship since 2015 and fourth in school history. In addition to the 2015 squad, the Warriors also won the conference tournament in back-to-back campaigns in 2012 and 2013. Merrimack's finals appearance tomorrow marks the ninth in school history, as well
- The Warriors began the tournament by defeating Stonehill in shutout fashion, the second time this spring that Merrimack did not concede a match against the Skyhawks. The hosts won the doubles points with triumphs at the second and third flights, taking a 1-0 lead into singles. Freshman Andre Singer won in straight sets at sixth singles to pick up the team's first point, junior Denis Davydov followed with another two-set win to make it a 3-0 game and classmate Alex Fedorov claimed a three-set win at No. 3, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-3, to send the team to the semis
- After a narrow regular season victory over Bentley (4-3), Merrimack dominated the Falcons in yesterday's semifinal. The first doubles pairing of Davydov and freshman Conrad Koch made quick work of the Falcons' top pairing, 6-1, and the Warriors won again at No. 2 doubles to pick up their first point. Koch's singles match at the first flight finished first on Thursday, winning both his sets by 6-4 margins. Classmate Jonathan Garcia notched his first singles win of the postseason in two sets at No. 2, and Davydov wrapped the match up shortly after Garcia's finished with a sweep of his own at the top flight
- 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
- Davydov and Koch landed on the all-league second team at first doubles, Fedorov and Garcia followed at the second doubles spot while freshmen Alec Mackay Rodriguez and Marshall Wood represented the Warriors on the second team at No. 3. Garcia (second singles) and Koch (fourth singles) landed on the all-league second team as singles players as well, while Fedorov (third singles) and Mackay Rodriguez (fifth singles) earned all-conference third team honors. Garcia, Koch, Mackay Rodriguez and Wood all landed on the all-rookie team, as well
Inside the Matchup:
- Merrimack and SNHU will meet for the seventh time over the last three years tomorrow, with Saturday's title match representing the fourth playoff match during that run. In addition to the three NE10 Finals, the Warriors and Penmen also played each other in the opening round of last season's NCAA Tournament.
- In the regular season tilt – played just nine days ago – SNHU claimed a 5-2 victory. The Warriors won at first doubles, 6-3, but the Penmen claimed the other two flights to earn the doubles point
- The Warriors won two of the six singles matches, with Garcia (6-2, 7-5) and Fedorov (6-4, 2-6, 10-4) prevailing at second and third singles, respectively. The Warriors' singles lineup was missing Koch, however, as the first-year Warrior did not play at his usual fourth singles spot
Up Next
The Warriors await their potential selection to their 12
th consecutive NCAA Tournament. Merrimack was ranked fifth in the final regular season regional poll as conducted by the NCAA Regional Advisory Committee, and the top-six programs reach the NCAA East Regional. The NCAA field will be announced on Tuesday night (8 p.m.) during the NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Selection Show on
www.ncaa.com.
