HOOKSETT, N.H. – Playing in its third consecutive Northeast-10 Conference Championship match and ninth overall in school history on Saturday, the Merrimack College men's tennis program won the doubles point at the Penmen Stadium Tennis Courts againast No. 50 Southern New Hampshire and followed with two straight singles victories to move within a point of the conference title. The host Penmen proved resilient, however, winning the top-four singles flights to claim the NE10 Championship in 4-3 fashion, winning the championship for the fourth straight year.
Junior
Alex Fedorov was named the inaugural NE10 Men's Tennis Elite 24 Winner, boasting the highest grade-point average at the NE10 Final. Classmate
Denis Davydov earned a spot on the NE10 All-Tournament squad as did freshman
Jonathan Garcia. Fedorov's win on Saturday at second doubles gave him his 40
th of the season, setting a new program record with wins in a single season.
The Basics
Score: #50 SNHU 4,
Merrimack 3
Records: Merrimack (17-9) | #50 SNHU (16-3)
Location: Hooksett, N.H. | Penmen Stadium Tennis Courts
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:#1 Southern New Hampshire def. #3 Merrimack, 4-3
Rapid Recap
- The doubles venue saw the Warriors and Penmen split the first and second flights. Fedorov and Garcia dominated at No. 2, 6-1, for Merrimack's first flight victory but the hosts answered with a 6-2 triumph at No. 1. Merirmack then claimed a 6-3 win at third doubles, taking the overall point and a 1-0 lead into singles behind the duo of freshmen Alec Mackay Rodriguez and Marshall Wood
- The Warriors' depth prevailed to start singles. Freshman Andre Singer recorded his second win of the conference tournament at No. 6 in two sets, opening a 2-0 advantage for Merrimack. Fifth singles went in the books shortly thereafter, with Mackay Rodriguez completing his first win of the tournament in straight sets to move the Warriors within a point of the match
- The next four flights went in favor of the Penmen, however, to give SNHU the title. Third singles and first singles were the next two matches that ended, with the Penmen claiming two-set victories at each spot. The Warriors won the opening sets at second and fourth singles, only to see the hosts comeback to win back-to-back frames at each spot. The No. 4 match proved to be the clincher, with the Penmen winning a 6-3 third set to end the contest
Up Next
Merrimack now awaits its NCAA Tournament fate, which will be announced on the Division II NCAA Men's Tennis Selection Show on Tuesday night at 8 p.m. on
www.ncaa.com. The Warriors boast the second longest active streak of consecutive East Regional appearances at 11 straight, and were the fifth-ranked program in the East Region in the final regional poll as conducted by the NCAA Regional Advisory Committee. The top-six teams at season's end advance to the NCAA East Regional.
